page_title: Würzburg
section_title: Main sights
hierarchical_section_title: Würzburg / Arts and culture / Main sights
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Arkadenbau Julius-Spital Würzburg.
context_page_description: Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia, northern Bavaria, Germany. Located on the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is East Franconian.
  Würzburg lies about equidistant from Frankfurt am Main and Nuremberg. Although the city of Würzburg is not part of the Landkreis Würzburg, it is the seat of the district's administration. The city has a population of around 130,000 people.
context_section_description: Würzburger Residenz: A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the vast compound near the center of the town was commissioned by two prince-bishops, the brothers Johann Philipp Franz and Friedrich Karl von Schönborn. Several architects, including Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and Maximilian von Welsch, supervised the construction between 1720 and 1744, but it is mainly associated with the name of Balthasar Neumann, the creator of its famous Baroque staircase. The palace suffered severe damage in the British bombing of March 1945, but has been completely rebuilt. The main attractions are:
  Hofkirche: The church interior is richly decorated with paintings, sculptures and stucco ornaments. The altars were painted by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
  Treppenhaus: Here Giovanni Battista Tiepolo created the largest fresco in the world, which adorns the vault over the staircase designed by Balthasar Neumann.
  Kaisersaal: The "Imperial Hall", the centerpiece of the palace, testifies to the close relationship between Würzburg and the Holy Roman Empire.
  Festung Marienberg is a fortress on Marienberg, the hill to the west of the city centre, overlooking the whole town area as well as the surrounding hills. Most current structures date to the Renaissance and Baroque periods, but the foundations of the chapel go back to the 8th century.
  Alte Mainbrücke (Old Main Bridge) was built 1473–1543 to replace the destroyed Romanesque bridge dated from 1133. In two phases, beginning in 1730, the bridge was adorned with twelve 4.5 meter statues of saints and historically important figures like John of Nepomuk, Mary and Saint Joseph, Charlemagne and Pepin the Short. The bridge was damaged by explosives in the final days of World War II. US troops threw the original Pepin into the river to make way for an anti-aircraft gun.
  The Rathaus or city hall of Würzburg differs from those of most Imperial Cities in that it was not a sumptuous edifice purpose-built in Renaissance style. Rather, the motley collection of buildings and wings reflects the fact that after 1426 the city was permanently under the control of the bishop who did not allow a representative new building. The Rathaus consists of parts dating from 1339 (chapel), 1453 (tower with the town's first public clock), 1544 (southwest oriel), 1659/60 (Roter Bau). In 1822 the three-winged structure of the neighbouring Karmeliterkloster (monastery of the Carmelites) was added to the city hall. The "Renaissance" row on Karmeliterstrasse was built only in 1898.
  Among Würzburg's many notable churches are the Käppele, a small Baroque/Rococo chapel by Balthasar Neumann, perched on a hill facing the fortress, and the Dom (Würzburg Cathedral). The Baroque Schönbornkapelle, a side-chapel of the cathedral, has interior decoration of (artificial) human bones and skulls. Also in the cathedral are two of Tilman Riemenschneider's most famous works, the tomb stones of Rudolf II von Scherenberg (1466–1495) and Lorenz von Bibra (1495–1519). At the entrance to the Marienkapelle (on the market square) stand replicas of the statues of Adam and Eve by Riemenschneider. The Neumünster is a Romanesque minster church with a Baroque façade and dome. Its crypt (Kiliansgruft) houses the relics of Kilian, Totnan and Kolonat. There are also two stone sarcophagi from the 8th century, the tombs of the first and second Bishop of Würzburg, Burkard and Megingaud. The latter's tomb features the oldest post-Roman monumental inscription in Franconia. Next to the Neumünster is the Lusamgärtchen. It contains a memorial from 1930 to Walther von der Vogelweide, who very likely was buried here in 1230. Only the church remains of the town's oldest abbey, St Burchard's Abbey founded around 750. It was transformed into a collegiate church in 1464 and dissolved in 1803. Among the Baroque churches in the centre of the city are Stift Haug, St. Michael, St. Stephan and St. Peter.
  The Juliusspital is a Baroque hospital with a courtyard and a church originally established by prince-bishop Julius Echter in 1576. The 160 m long northern wing was added by Italian architect
caption: Juliusspital
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