Almkanal and City Waterways

This walking tour traces the historic waterways and oldest canal system of Central Europe, showcasing how alpine engineering powered medieval Salzburg and fed its grandest fountains.

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1. Residenzbrunnen

The Residenzbrunnen is the tall, marble fountain in the center of the Residenzplatz, crowned by a horse-taming Triton. Prince Archbishop Guidobald von Thun commissioned it in the mid-seventeenth century to show off the city’s mastery over…

2. Florianibrunnen

The Florianibrunnen sits in the middle of the Alter Markt, recognizable by the tall, wrought-iron grillwork surrounding a central stone basin. Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau commissioned the fountain in sixteen eighty-five,…

3. Kapitelschwemme

The Kapitelschwemme is a wide, shallow stone basin tucked against the base of the Hohensalzburg fortress cliff. It features a bronze statue of Neptune holding a trident, perched atop a shell-shaped pedestal. In the seventeenth century,…

4. Museum Almkanal

The Almkanal tunnel entrance stands marked by a heavy, iron-grated portal set directly into the sheer face of the Mönchsberg mountain. This tunnel serves as the oldest water-carrying structure in Austria, carved directly through solid rock…

5. Stiftsbäckerei St Peter

The Stiftsbäckerei St Peter sits inside the monastery walls with a stone hearth oven that occupies the entire back room. Flour and water turn into loaves here the same way they have since twelve hundred. Monks baked bread for the abbey,…

6. Pferdeschwemme (Hofmarstallschwemme)

The Pferdeschwemme in Salzburg features a massive, carved stone figure of a horse rearing up from the water. This structure served as a monumental horse bath, built in sixteen ninety-five so the Archbishop’s cavalry could clean their…

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Almkanal and City Waterways | Mira audio tours