Historic Center of Graz (Austria): Austrian Bastion Against Ottoman Turks

With a collection of well-preserved buildings dating from different periods, the historic center of Graz, which was born in the Middle Ages between the Mur River and the Schlossberg mountain, represents the unique testimony of a central European city that was not affected by wars or strong economic expansions, and which became a princely court and a stronghold of the Austro-Hungarian Empire against the Ottomans.

The city of Graz (Austria)

Although there are traces of continued human occupation since Neolithic times, the Romans did not build any settlements here. The first mention of the name Graz was in 1228. It was a town of merchants and craftsmen that included a Jewish community that remained until the 15th century. From 1379 it became the capital of Inner Austria. But it was Frederick III who made it his favorite residence, granted it numerous privileges, and had numerous buildings built and rebuilt, including the church of St. Giles, today's cathedral. To face the Hungarian and Turkish invasions, the city restructured its medieval defense system, adapting it to the rules of the Renaissance, already in the 16th century. In 1559 the Clock Tower received its final configuration, which has been preserved to this day and is the most emblematic monument of Graz. The most important phase of the city's architectural development took place with the arrival of the Jesuits in 1572. Archduke Charles II supported the Counter-Reformation, founded a Jesuit university and, in 1600, had an important Protestant foundation in the city destroyed. When his son Ferdinand moved his court to Vienna in 1618, it caused a relative economic recession in Graz. Despite this, the city continued to grow, and between the 17th and 20th centuries, new characteristic buildings in different styles were added to the city center.

Although the primary value of the city of Graz as a World Heritage Site is based on the exceptional character of the urban ensemble itself and on the harmonious testimony of the urban planning and architectural styles used in the successive epochs of its urban development, some of its most particularly remarkable buildings should be mentioned.

The famous Graz Clock Tower (left)

Of the original count's castle inhabited by Frederick III, a late Gothic chapel and a double-spiral stairwell dating from 1499 remain in the Gothic hall. The wing built in 1570 by Archduke Charles is practically intact. A monumental portico in Renaissance style gives access to the inner courtyard. The seminary or former Jesuit college is an imposing complex built in 1572 that has not been transformed into baroque style like other buildings but retains its severe renaissance architecture.

After the dissolution of the Jesuit order in 1773, the old university came under public control. Its library, which was installed in the theater and in the old Aula Magna, stands out. Its decoration and furnishings make it an excellent example of the transition from Rococo to Neoclassicism.

Graz Cathedral (St. Giles Cathedral) founded by Frederick III

Two other unique buildings in the city are the cathedral, built by Frederick II in late Gothic style on the site of the Romanesque church of St. Giles, and the mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II, built in 1614 by Giovanni de Paris, whose facade illustrates the transition from Renaissance to Baroque, constituting an original synthesis between the heavy architecture of the building and the lightness of its domes.