Upper Belvedere, Baroque palace and art museum in Landstraße, Vienna, Austria.
The Upper Belvedere is a baroque palace built in the 1720s to plans by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. Its central hall has a painted oval ceiling fresco, three crystal chandeliers, white pilasters with gilded ornament, and tall windows with deep red-brown surrounds. The polished reddish-brown floor leads past a dark sculpture near the far window.
Built between 1717 and 1723 as the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy, the palace later hosted the signing of the Austrian State Treaty in 1955, which restored the country's independence after World War II.
The collection spans Austrian art from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Its best-known holding is Gustav Klimt's The Kiss (1907–08), bought by the state in 1908; the Belvedere also owns the world's largest group of Egon Schiele paintings, including works once confiscated from Jewish owners and restituted after 1998.
The museum is open daily from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, requires ticketed entry with online booking recommended, and provides wheelchair accessibility along with public transportation access via nearby tram and underground stations.
The Marble Hall features original 18th-century decorative elements and large windows that provide sweeping views of the baroque gardens and city, maintaining its function as a grand ceremonial space for over three centuries.
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