Schonbrunn Palace is located in Vienna and is one of the most important in Europe.
They were the summer palaces of the Hapsburgs from the 18th century until 1918.
Today they are a great tourist resort with an average of 6.7 million visitors per year.
The building complex and its gardens testify to the glamor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
It was originally a small building built in 1570 by Maximilian II while his son Matthias took care in 1612 to expand it as it is today.
The building was largely destroyed during the siege of Vienna by the Ottomans in 1683. Then Emperor Leopold I ordered a new palace to be designed. However, it was not completed because his son died in 1711 and the work stopped.
The later emperor wanted to rebuild it for his daughter who used it as a summer residence. This work lasted from 1743 to 1749.
During the period 1805 and 1809 it was the headquarters of Napoleon.
It is a creation characterized by architecture, sculpture, painting and murals.
It has 1441 rooms and 139 kitchens. There lived the imperial guard, top diplomats and soldiers.
The huge garden has flowerbeds, 32 marble statues, a tank with a sculpture of Poseidon, an obelisk, a zoo and a greenhouse.
Since 1996 it is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
[Source: el.wikipedia.org]
