Hohensalzburg Fortress

This fortress has loomed over Salzburg for nearly a thousand years, and in all that time, nobody has ever managed to take it by force. Built in 1077 by Archbishop Gebhard during the Investiture Controversy — a power struggle between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor that makes modern politics look civilised — Hohensalzburg started as a simple wooden fortification on the Festungsberg hill. Over the next four centuries, successive prince-archbishops turned it into one of the largest medieval castles in Europe, stretching 250 metres long and 150 metres wide.

Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach gave the fortress its current appearance around 1500, adding the ornate Gothic state rooms that still survive. The Golden Chamber, with its blue and gold star-studded ceiling and a massive ceramic tile stove from 1501, is one of the finest late-Gothic interiors in Europe. Keutschach was so proud of his work that he had his coat of arms — a turnip — carved into seemingly every available surface. A prince-archbishop whose family crest was a root vegetable. You cannot make this up.

The only serious siege came in 1525 during the German Peasants' War, when miners, farmers, and townspeople tried to oust Prince-Archbishop Matthäus Lang. They failed. The fortress held, and Lang waited them out. Two centuries later, during the Napoleonic Wars, the fortress was surrendered without a fight to French troops in 1800 — the one time the castle changed hands, not a single shot was fired.

Since 1892, you can ride the Festungsbahn funicular railway to the top instead of walking the steep medieval path. It is one of the oldest funiculars in Austria, and it delivers you to views that stretch across the old town rooftops to the Austrian Alps beyond. On a clear day, you can see into Germany.