Schloss Hellbrunn

Austria's best example of the Italian baroque style. Marcus Sitticus, the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, like all garden enthusiasts of his age, loved the water tricks and games which were seen to perfection in Florence's mostly-destroyed Pratolino. It is only at Hellbrunn that these garden marvels survive. As ever, they delight young visitors and those who remain young at heart. In a grotto, dedicated to Neptune, ornamental birds sing with pneumatic power from water bellows. There is an amphitheatre made from a quarry and a Roman theatre with a stone water table. An English garden was added towards the end of the eighteenth century and, near the gate, one can see the glass summerhouse used in the Sound of Music for song 'I am sixteen, coming on seventeen'.