Great Rivers of Europe - 6

Hi, We spent the morning of May 7 cruising the Main River, arriving in Wurzburg after lunch.  The afternoon was spent on a walking tour of the town.

The photos above and three below are typical of what we saw while cruising.  They included swans,

castle ruins,

more quaint river side towns, and

lots of canola fields.

Here too there were low bridge clearances requiring the pilot house to be lowered into the deck and the captain to peer out over the roof.  Behind him is the chair the officer running the ship would normally sit in.

After lunch buses took us to the west end of the Old Bridge across the Main River.  The views above and two below are looking to the east across the river.

The bridge is adorned with statues of Saints (above) and historically important figures.

A lock was built on the west side of the river (above and two below).

Festung Marienberg is a fortress on hill west of the town center.  It is mostly open to the public and part of it functions as an art museum (above and below).

As we walked through town there were a number of buildings with interesting decorations.

We visited the Wurzburg Cathedral also called St. Killian Cathedral.  The conceptof the church was one moving from the old testament to the new testament, from Judaism to Christianity, so that you have a menorah at the entrance and the organ resembling the form of Noah´s Ark, for instance, and the cross at the altar.

The church had a display which included a model of the city after the British fire bombing of March 1945.

Our final stop was the Bishops Residence.  Entering into the main hall leads to the grand staircase (above and below).

The ceiling shows very intricate design.

The grand staircase in the center coming up from the bottom splits into two staircases that lead into a gallery.

One of the rooms was surrounded by mirrors.

The outside of the residence had a statue and fountain. 

Thanks for looking.