The Capital City of Styria


by Douglas Scott - Date: 2007-06-11 - Word Count: 424 Share This!

Graz is the capital city of Styria, a region in the southeast corner of Austria. The city is located in between rolling hills, to the north, east and west, only open to the south.

It has some 250,000 inhabitants, and it supports machine factories, thriving breweries, trading companies and service industries. The Graz Fair is an important commercial and industrial event in south eastern Europe. Graz's three universities, theatre, opera house, museums, concert halls, and art galleries comprise of its cultural centre.

The city was rebuilt in the 19th century, and most of the old town survived allied bombing at the end of World War II, when it was part of Nazi Germany. In May of 1945 the city surrendered to Soviet Forces, but in the years following the war has prospered as a educational centre and cultural of Austria and today it is one of the countrys most beautiful cities.

Take a walk at night through the city of Graz and you will see, that most of the places of interest are perfectly light and some of them look even better or at least more romantic during the night. It is perfectly safe to move around in the city at night

The major shopping streets, including the wide, elegant Herrengasse, branching off from the main square in the centre of town. The second major shopping street is the also elegant and car-free Sporgasse, which is lined with shops and side walk cafes. In the heart of the old city, Sporgasse runs along the River Mur's Left Bank. The major item to buy here is Syrian clothing in its famous grey and green hues. Hofbackerei Edegger Tax is a traditional confectionary and bakery in Hofgasse, the old part of Graz and the royal court also used to get pastries and bread made by them.

A significant land mark of the city is the romantic Uhrturm, a tower still using its original mechanism from 1712 and a traditional location for locals first kiss.

The old town was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999 due to the harmonically co-existence of typical buildings from different epochs and in different architectural styles. Situated in a cultural border land between Central Europe, Italy and the Balkan States, Graz absorbed various influences from the neighbouring regions and received its exceptional townscape. The old town consists of over 1000 buildings, their age ranging from Gothic to Contemporary. This old town is in fact on the site of the Roman fort that was built in the 1st century to defend the northern frontier.


Related Tags: gothic, hofbackerei edegger tax

Douglas Scott works for The Car Hire Specialist. and is a writer for The Graz Rental Site

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