{"id":149,"date":"2015-08-19T10:49:41","date_gmt":"2015-08-19T08:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=149"},"modified":"2025-06-16T09:32:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T08:32:19","slug":"romanruins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/schonbrunn\/romanruins\/","title":{"rendered":"The Roman Ruins at Sch\u00f6nbrunn"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/vespasian.jpg\" alt=\"Emperor Vespasian\" class=\"wp-image-15522\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/vespasian.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/vespasian-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>One thing you probably don&#8217;t expect to find in the grounds of a baroque palace are some Roman ruins. Unless that palace is Vienna&#8217;s Sch\u00f6nbrunn&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Fake (but impressive) ruins built in 1778<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mimics the Temple of Vespasian and Titus<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Free public access as part of the park area<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book a Sch\u00f6nbrunn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/schonbrunn-palace-tickets-l145516\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LGSchPalVenue\" rel=\"sponsored\">concert, tour or experience<\/a>*<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/palace-of-schonbrunn\/\">Sch\u00f6nbrunn tickets &amp; visitor info<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The real <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/vindobona\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"32729\">Roman Vienna<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Roman ruins in Vienna?<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-5823\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/schoenbrunnromanruinspress1.jpg\" alt=\"Fake Roman ruins\" class=\"wp-image-66320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/schoenbrunnromanruinspress1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/schoenbrunnromanruinspress1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The Roman ruins; press photo \u00a9 Schlo\u00df Sch\u00f6nbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., Severin W\u00fcrnig)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What a fabulous find, not to say coincidence, that such a remarkable ancient ruin should remain preserved in the very grounds of the Habsburg palace!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s almost too good to be true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take a closer look, though, and the materials that make up the broken statues, frescoes, and arches of this Roman temple seem a little newer than they ought to be. So, yes, the whole collection is fake: albeit a rather convincing one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To be fair, it&#8217;s perfectly realistic to imagine Roman ruins in Vienna.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"386\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/schoenbrunnromanruins1843.jpg\" alt=\"Roman ruins painted by Alt\" class=\"wp-image-61314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/schoenbrunnromanruins1843.jpg 386w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/schoenbrunnromanruins1843-257x300.jpg 257w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 386px) 100vw, 386px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Watercolour of the ruins from 1843, painted by Franz Alt; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 105861; excerpt reproduced under the terms of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY 4.0 license<\/a>; photo by the Wien Museum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Excavations in the city have revealed, for example, that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/vindobona\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"32729\">Vindobona<\/a> (as Roman Vienna was known) housed as many as 30,000 people in its military garrison, military settlement, and civil town. Emperor Marcus Aurelius (of <em>Gladiator<\/em> fame) even spent time here in the 2nd century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not that the original architect was trying to kid anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aristocrats and rich merchants in Europe often constructed artificial Roman ruins on their grounds in the fashion of the time. Similar ruins exist, for example, at Villa Torlonia in Rome or in Parc Monceau in Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><em>Ad:<\/em><p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Find tickets and experience options for the palace and zoo)<\/p><\/div><div data-tiqets-widget=\"discovery\" data-cards-layout=\"horizontal\" data-content-type=\"venue\" data-content-ids=\"145516,141990\" data-partner=\"visitingvienna\" data-tq-campaign=\"DA_SchPal\"><\/div><script defer src=\"https:\/\/widgets.tiqets.com\/loader.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Sch\u00f6nbrunn&#8217;s little piece of Rome went up in 1778, built for the Empress Maria Theresa by the same architect who designed the park&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/schonbrunn\/gloriette\/\">Gloriette<\/a>: Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg (another architect with extra wide business cards).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ruins make a remarkable impression for what is, essentially, a garden ornament: the imperial baroque equivalent of a gnome with a fishing rod. Step a little away from it, for example, and the central arch frames a statue up the hill behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The design mimics the actual ruins of the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, as drawn by Giovanni Battista Piranesi in the mid-1700s.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"341\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/vespasiantempleruins.jpg\" alt=\"Temple of Vespasian and Titus by Giovanni Battista Piranesi\" class=\"wp-image-48975\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/vespasiantempleruins.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/vespasiantempleruins-300x205.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Temple of Vespasian and Titus by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1756; used as a model for Sch\u00f6nbrunn&#8217;s Roman ruins. Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Roman Emperor Titus built the original (real) temple for his father, Emperor Vespasian, in the 1st century AD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Titus died before completion of the building, though his brother \u2014 and successor as Emperor \u2014 Domitian finished the task, dedicating it to both predecessors. Hence the name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vespasian, incidentally, is known for his deathbed quote, &#8220;Woe is me. I think I am becoming a god&#8221; and is also allegedly the source of such delicate lines as, &#8220;the body of a dead enemy always smells sweet.&#8221; A nice chap. Very humble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get to the Roman Ruins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re in the palace gardens at Sch\u00f6nbrunn, stand at the foot of the huge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/schonbrunn\/neptune-fountain\/\">Neptune Fountain<\/a> below the hill crowned magnificently by the Gloriette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Look left and walk along the level path until you reach the Roman ruins on your right among the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Continue past the ruins to reach the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/schonbrunn\/obelisk-grotto\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"15256\">Obelisk<\/a> with its Egyptian hieroglyphics. (I&#8217;ll let you guess if that&#8217;s an original artifact from the ancient world.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1oN2SutdbrqOx-JViFyKk3v-X_Kw\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One thing you probably don&#8217;t expect to find in the grounds of a baroque palace are some Roman ruins. Unless that palace is Vienna&#8217;s Sch\u00f6nbrunn&#8230; Roman ruins in Vienna? (The Roman ruins; press photo \u00a9 Schlo\u00df Sch\u00f6nbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., Severin W\u00fcrnig) What a fabulous find, not to say coincidence, that such a remarkable ancient [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15522,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-schonbrunn","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84172,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149\/revisions\/84172"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}