Attraction Highlights
The heart of Vienna, the Innere Stadt, was once surrounded by protective walls. These were razed in 1857, and in their place a broad boulevard, the Ringstrausse, was built and subsequently lined with important buildings, monuments, and parks. Among the most important structures are the Rathaus (town hall), the Parliament, and the Staatsoper (State Opera House), which was burned in 1945 and rebuilt in 1955. Also here are the Hofburg, the former imperial palace, and, at the very center of the Inner City, the Gothic Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), its 113-meter (370-foot) spire visible from all parts of Vienna.Vienna's many famous parks include Belevedere Park, with its baroque-style castle, and its principal park, the Prater, situated on an island formed by the Danube River and the canal. Schloss Schönbrunn (Schönbrunn Palace), the beautiful rococo imperial summer palace, also has an 18th-century park and the world's oldest existing zoo (1752). To the west of the city lie the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods), rising up the foothills of the Alps.