Stallburg, Renaissance castle in Innere Stadt, Vienna, Austria.
Stallburg is a three-story Renaissance building in Vienna's Innere Stadt, part of the Hofburg, arranged around a single arcaded courtyard. It was built around 1558–1565 by architect Pietro Ferrabosco as a residence for Archduke Maximilian. The courtyard's Renaissance arches, walled up for over 300 years, were uncovered between 1955 and 1960.
Archduke Maximilian, later Emperor Maximilian II, had the Stallburg built as a residence around 1558–1565 to designs by architect Pietro Ferrabosco. From 1659 to 1776 it housed Archduke Leopold Wilhelm's painting gallery. Bomb damage in 1945 was repaired in a faithful restoration in 1947–1948, and the Renaissance arcades of the courtyard were uncovered between 1955 and 1960.
The building's name comes from the imperial family's horses, kept on the ground floor under Charles VI. In the courtyard stands a fountain with wrought-iron railings, built in 1675. Lipizzaners of the Spanish Riding School are still stabled here; the yard can be seen from Reitschulgasse.
The place houses Lipizzan horses of the Spanish Riding School and offers guided tours through the organization. Visitors should check which areas are open to the public, as only certain sections of the complex are accessible.
The ground level preserves its original Renaissance architecture and continues to function as a stable, maintaining a four-hundred-fifty-year tradition of housing imperial horses. This ongoing use makes it one of the few European locations where the original purpose has remained unchanged for centuries.
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