Hofburg

The Hofburg in Vienna's first district is less a palace than an accumulated city — begun as a medieval fortress around 1279 and expanded across seven centuries until the complex covered over 240,000 square meters. It was here that the Congress of Vienna convened in 1814/15, where Prince Metternich orchestrated Europe's post-Napoleonic order amid one of the densest webs of espionage and intrigue the continent had seen. The Imperial Treasury holds the 10th-century crown of the Holy Roman Empire, a goldsmith masterpiece that Napoleon coveted but never obtained. Today the Austrian Federal President occupies part of the complex, and the Spanish Riding School still trains its Lipizzan horses in the original Baroque winter riding hall — morning training sessions are open to the public, while full performances book out months in advance.

Complex of 18 wings and 19 courtyards, today housing the federal president and the Spanish Riding School.