Vacation 2010 Day 10: Wurzburg, the afternoon

The old main bridge across the River Main was built in the 15th Century. The statues were added in the 18th Century.

For my last afternoon in Wurzburg we headed back across the river and up to the Fortress Marienberg sitting atop the hillside looking over Wurzburg.

There were fortifications on this hilltop since the 14th Century that have been gradually expanded and added to until its present size.

It was completely burned out in 1945, and reconstruction was only finished in 1990.

Lots of light and shadow, which is what photography is about, right?

There are fantastic views over the River main and the whole of Wurzburg.

Vacation 2010 Day 10: Wurzburg (morning)

On my second day in Wurzburg I met up with a few other camera buffs and continued exploring.
Churches were of course on the itinerary and again it was the light inside them that contin ued to attract me.

Like the scales of some prehistoric dinosaur, the slate tiles of the roofs sometimes took on organic forms.....

Corridor in the Julius Spital, a 16th Century hospital

The stairwell in a modern section of the Julius Spital.

The churches and cathedrals had some pretty impressive organs, but the most unusual-looking one was in the Augustiner Kirche.

In a small garden around the grave of Walter von der Vogelweide, a 12th Century knight and poet.

Vacation 2010 Day 9: Wurzburg

After spending the day in Bamberg, I arrived at night in Wurzburg where I would stay for 3 days and catch up on my sleep. My friends apartment was located right under the hilltop Fortress Marienberg.

Next day we visited some of the 100 churches of Wurzburg. The town was almost completely destroyed in a bombing raid towards the end of the war and everything has been restored to its former glory. Lots of frescoes and gold leaf.....

The centerpiece of Wurzburg is The Residenz, a World Heritage site, and the interior is possibly the gaudiest building I have ever seen......

The Residenz is one of the locations for a new version of The Three Musketeers being filmed right now starring Orlando Bloom and Mila Jovovich.

After the Residenz we visited a few more churches and then walked along the Main River past the old harbour.

Not all is baroque in Wurzburg. Right on the river is the local power station......