Imagine standing alone at a hidden place in Salzburg. It is half an hour before sunrise and the sky is already starting to change its colour into various forms of blue, orange, red and light pink. There are trees all around you, just behind there is a small road, though there are hardly no people passing by at this time of the day. You may ask yourself now: How do I see the sunrise when I am surrounded by trees? I invite you to read this blog and at the end you will be surprised what secret place the city of Salzburg has to offer.
Location of the place
First, you might know about the mountains located within the city of Salzburg. The three most important ones are Mönchsberg, Gaisberg and Kapuzinerberg. The location of the secret place is the Kapuzinerberg. There are several ways to get to the secret place, it depends on which direction you are coming.
When you are coming from the north of the city, there is a path beginning at the parking garage of the small shopping centre “ZIB”. The path goes up the hill until you arrive at the Franziskischlössel. From there you turn left and you follow the paved street downwards until you see the secret place on the left side.
If your starting point is the Residenzplatz in the middle of the old town in Salzburg, you cross the river Salzach at any bridge. The route on the picture is crossing the river at Staatsbrücke. I would recommend you taking the Staatsbrücke because when you have crossed it, you stand right at the beginning of the pedestrian zone of Linzer Gasse which you need to follow until you recognise the staircase to the Kapuzinerberg on the right-hand side. When you follow the street, you will end up at the secret place on the right-hand side.
I assume that some of you might also start at the Salzburg main station. Here you take the main exit of the train station and turn left. You follow this street, passing by a roundabout and moving straight on. You will recognize the famous Mirabellgarten on your left, that is the point when you can be sure you are on the right way. You still move straight ahead, passing by a beautiful church on your left and entering the pedestrian zone which, when you go straight on, lead you to the staircase of the Kapuzinerberg.
Description of the spot
The secret place has a unique view of the old town of Salzburg. The special perspective from this place on the fortress, the town’s landmark, is one-of-a-kind. In the background you can see the end of the Untersberg mountain. Even though there are trees looming around you, there is a hole exactly at the spot where you have the view of the old town of Salzburg.
The sunrise at the spot
It may not be a very classic spot for a sunrise because the perspective from this place is heading towards southwest. This means during winter months you are able to see the sun setting behind the mountains because that is the time when the sunset is taking place between west and southwest. At no point in the year, you are able to directly see the sun rising, because it is rising too far at the east. Nevertheless, this is the very special characteristic from my point of view, as you can follow the shafts of sunlight going over the mountains, the land and the city and every minute it gets brighter. You as a viewer of this can concentrate more on how the sun is covering the surface with light rather than waiting to see the sun itself. I recommend you watching the sunrise during the winter months, since in summer the location of the sun is rather suboptimal for the unique experience I described.
The picture below has been taking by myself at the beginning of November. You can see the mountains in the background already covered in snow. The sun, coming from the left side, is spotlighting the fortress and the surroundings.
I hope, I made you interested in visiting this spot and possibly meet you there in this beautiful scenery.
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Amazing Blog, short and simple