Landmark Europe
Belvedere
The Belvedere is a pair of grand palaces in Vienna, Austria, with a big garden between them. Today it is an art museum!
The Belvedere in Vienna is made of two Baroque palaces, the Lower and the Upper Belvedere, joined by a large garden. Prince Eugene of Savoy had them built as a summer home from 1712 to 1723, to designs by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. In 1777 the Upper Belvedere became, the museum says, one of the world's first public museums, and today the Belvedere is an art museum.
Built for Prince Eugene of Savoy by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt (Lower Belvedere 1712–1717, Upper Belvedere 1717–1723), the Belvedere is a Baroque ensemble of two palaces and a French-style garden. Its Picture Gallery opened in 1777, which the museum says made it one of the world's first public museums; today it holds what it calls the world's largest collection of Gustav Klimt paintings.
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Belvedere
The Belvedere is in Vienna, the capital of Austria.
It has two palaces, one at each end of a long garden. Now people visit to see paintings.
The Belvedere in Vienna is a set of two palaces, the Upper Belvedere and the Lower Belvedere, with a long garden between them. The museum calls the whole complex one of the most stunning Baroque ensembles in the world.
The palaces were built as a summer home for Prince Eugene of Savoy, a general and diplomat. Today both are part of the Belvedere museum, which shows Austrian art from the Middle Ages to the present day.
The Belvedere museum describes its complex, two palaces with their extensive gardens, as one of the most stunning Baroque architectural ensembles in the world. Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736), a general and diplomat of the Habsburg Monarchy, commissioned the architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt to build it as a summer residence.
Today the museum presents Austrian art in an international context in three locations: the Upper Belvedere, the Lower Belvedere and Belvedere 21, a modern pavilion by the architect Karl Schwanzer.
- Where
- Vienna, Austria
- Built
- Lower Belvedere 1712–1717; Upper Belvedere 1717–1723
- Architect
- Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt
- Garden
- French style, planned by Dominique Girard, completed 1718
A prince's summer palaces
About 300 years ago, a prince named Eugene built two palaces here. They were his summer home.
Later, an empress bought them. The Upper Belvedere was filled with paintings for people to see.
Prince Eugene bought land on the Rennweg in 1697, and terracing work on the grounds began in 1704. The Lower Belvedere was built from 1712 to 1717, and the Upper Belvedere from 1717 to 1723.
After the prince's death, Empress Maria Theresa bought the estate in 1752. In 1777 the imperial picture collection opened to the public in the Upper Belvedere, making it one of the first public museums in the world, the museum says.
The museum's chronology runs from a large plot on the Rennweg bought in 1697 and terracing begun in 1704, through the Lower Belvedere (1712–1717) and the Upper Belvedere (1717–1723). Hildebrandt remodeled the Sala Terrena in 1732 to improve its stability.
Empress Maria Theresa acquired the estate in 1752. In 1776 she and her son, Emperor Joseph II, decided to move the Imperial Picture Gallery to the Upper Belvedere so that the public could see it, and its opening in 1777 made it one of the world's first public museums. The Modern Gallery opened in the Lower Belvedere in 1903 and became the Austrian State Gallery in 1912.
A Baroque garden
A French garden designer planned the garden. He had worked at the palace of Versailles.
A big pool in front of the Upper Belvedere reflects it like a mirror!
The Baroque garden was finished in 1718. It was planned by the French garden architect Dominique Girard, who had learned about water features and garden design while working at Versailles. The museum calls it one of Europe's most important historic gardens in the French style.
In front of the Upper Belvedere's outdoor steps lies a large pool that mirrors the palace front. Next to the Upper Belvedere, the grounds once reached east to a half-circle menagerie, a collection of animals.
Dominique Girard planned the Baroque park, finished in 1718, drawing on the water technology and garden design he had mastered at Versailles; the museum calls it one of Europe's most significant historical gardens in the French style and, even in its pared-down form, a fine example of late Baroque garden design.
A large pool in front of the Upper Belvedere's outdoor steps mirrors its facade. At the other end, nearest the city on Rennweg, a cour d'honneur faces the Lower Belvedere, and the narrow Kammergarten (Privy Garden) runs to the Orangery. Next to the Upper Belvedere the grounds extended east, up until 1726 in the museum's words, to take in a semicircular menagerie, and a kitchen garden lay where Vienna's Botanical Garden is now.
The Upper Belvedere and its art
Inside the Upper Belvedere are many paintings by an artist named Gustav Klimt.
Its big Marble Hall has a painted ceiling and a view over Vienna.
The Upper Belvedere stands at one end of the garden. Carlo Carlone was asked in 1720 to paint the ceiling of its grand Marble Hall, which, the museum says, offers an unparalleled view of Vienna.
Today the Belvedere's collection spans 800 years of art, from the Middle Ages to now. The museum says it has the world's largest collection of paintings by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt.
For the Upper Belvedere's Marble Hall, Prince Eugene chose Gaetano Fanti for the painted architecture (1719), and Carlo Carlone was commissioned for the ceiling fresco in 1720. The museum says the hall now offers an unparalleled view of Vienna.
Its collection ranges from the Middle Ages to the present, with highlights from Viennese Biedermeier, Austrian Baroque, Vienna around 1900 and French Impressionism, and what the museum calls the world's largest collection of Gustav Klimt paintings.
- First public museum here
- Picture Gallery, Upper Belvedere, 1777
- Collection
- art from the Middle Ages to today; the world's largest collection of Gustav Klimt paintings (museum)
- Ceiling of the Marble Hall
- fresco by Carlo Carlone, commissioned 1720
The palace in the pool
In the photo, the lights of the palace shine in the still pool.
The sky is deep blue, and the palace glows gold.
The photo shows the Upper Belvedere on 1 February 2020, during the 'blue hour', as its photographer describes it. Lights glow in the windows, and the whole front is reflected in the large pool, which the museum says mirrors the palace.
You can see the green roofs, a domed tower at each end and three tall arched windows in the middle.
The photograph (1 February 2020, by Diego Delso, a Commons featured picture; described as taken in the blue hour) shows the Upper Belvedere from across the large pool: a long lit facade with green roofs, a domed corner tower at each end, a raised central section with three tall arched openings, bare winter trees at the sides and the facade mirrored in the water, as the museum says the pool does.
Amazing facts
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Long ago, there were animals living in a zoo next to the top palace!
Next to the Upper Belvedere there was once a half-circle menagerie, a collection of animals.
The grounds once extended east of the Upper Belvedere to take in a semicircular menagerie; a book on the animals and plants in the Belvedere's gardens was published in 1734.
-
The garden's planner had worked at the palace of Versailles.
Dominique Girard, who planned the garden, learned about fountains and garden design while working at Versailles.
Girard's park, completed in 1718, reflects the water technology and garden design he had mastered at Versailles.
-
Vienna's Botanical Garden grows where the palace's vegetable garden once was.
The Belvedere's old kitchen garden was in the area that is now Vienna's Botanical Garden.
South of the Upper Belvedere, a geometrical kitchen garden once occupied the area of today's Botanical Garden.
-
The Belvedere has more paintings by Gustav Klimt than any other museum, it says!
The museum says it has the world's largest collection of paintings by Gustav Klimt.
The Belvedere names the world's largest collection of Gustav Klimt paintings among its highlights.
Words to know
- palace
- a very large, grand home for a ruler or a noble
- Baroque
- a grand, richly decorated style of art and building from the 1600s and 1700s
- menagerie
- a collection of wild animals kept to be looked at
- fresco
- a painting made on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling
- reflection
- an image you see in water, a mirror or glass
- museum
- a building where art or interesting objects are kept and shown
Discovery challenge
-
How many palaces does the Belvedere have?
How many palaces make up the Belvedere?
Which two buildings make up the Belvedere's palace ensemble?
- Two: the Upper and Lower Belvedere
- One
- Ten
Show the answer
Two: the Upper and Lower Belvedere
Two palaces!
Two: the Upper Belvedere and the Lower Belvedere.
The Lower Belvedere (1712–1717) and the Upper Belvedere (1717–1723).
-
Who were the palaces built for?
For whom were the Belvedere palaces built as a summer home?
Who commissioned Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt to build the Belvedere?
- Prince Eugene of Savoy
- Napoleon
- Queen Victoria
Show the answer
Prince Eugene of Savoy
Prince Eugene!
Prince Eugene of Savoy.
Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736).
-
What does the big pool in front of the palace do?
What does the large pool in front of the Upper Belvedere show?
What does the museum say the pool in front of the outdoor steps does?
- It reflects the palace like a mirror
- It is used for swimming races
- It makes electricity
Show the answer
It reflects the palace like a mirror
It shows the palace like a mirror!
It mirrors the palace's front.
It mirrors and duplicates the building's facade.
-
In which city is the Belvedere?
In which capital city is the Belvedere?
In which city did Prince Eugene buy land on the Rennweg in 1697?
- Vienna
- Paris
- Rome
Show the answer
Vienna
Vienna, in Austria!
Vienna, the capital of Austria.
Vienna.
-
What did the top palace become in 1777?
What opened in the Upper Belvedere in 1777?
What made the Upper Belvedere one of the world's first public museums?
- A picture gallery open to the public
- A train station
- A school for horses
Show the answer
A picture gallery open to the public
A place where everyone could see paintings!
The imperial Picture Gallery, open to the public.
The opening of the Imperial Picture Gallery to the public in 1777.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Vienna and describe the Belvedere's two palaces, garden and pool.
- Explain how a private summer home became one of the world's early public museums.
- Describe how a Baroque garden uses water, such as a mirror pool, in its design.
Recommended ages: 4 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- In 1777 the emperors' paintings were opened to the public. Why does it matter that everyone can visit a museum?
- The pool was placed so that it mirrors the palace. Where have you seen a building reflected in water?
- If you could choose one painting to hang in a palace, what would it show?
Try at home or in class
- Fold a paper in half, paint one half of a building, then press the halves together to make a 'reflection' print.
- Fill a shallow dark tray with water and place a small toy building at one end to see its mirror image.
Key vocabulary: palace, Baroque, menagerie, fresco, reflection, museum
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- History and Architecture , Belvedere Museum Vienna
- Upper Belvedere , Belvedere Museum Vienna
- File:Palacio Belvedere, Viena, Austria, 2020-02-01, DD 93-95 HDR.jpg , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.