Located 150 kilometres southwest of Vienna, Graz hugs both sides of the Mur River. Its picturesque architecture is a reminder that Graz is 900 years old. The well-preserved historic centre of this city of 340,000 people is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The best way to see many of its 1,000 buildings is on foot. Cafés, beisls – the Austrian equivalent of French bistros – and jazz clubs mingle with patrician buildings adorned with paintings, flowers and artistic scrolls. The doubleheaded golden eagle crest of the Habsburg dynasty still hangs over the carved wooden façade of a bakery. The splendid 16th-century Renaissance Landhaus is now home to the Styrian provincial parliament. Three tiers of arcades and flower-bedecked balconies surround the courtyard. Although the Landhaus is beautiful, nothing in Graz surpasses the Styrian Armoury. The five-storey building houses the oldest and largest historical collection of arms in the world – more than 32,000 pieces, dating from the 15th century. Guided tours of the arsenal take you back to the days of Sir Lancelot and King Arthur. Phalanxes of shining armour march across the wooden floors. Racks of flintlock rifles and menacing halberds line the walls. At one end of the first floor, several cannons stand ready to load with long-handled ramrods. Pumpkin-sized iron balls rest at their sides, with umbilical chains so that they can be dragged back up to the launch site and reused. The inventory includes sharp bayonets and pistols with handles of inlaid calf bone. One bayonet, attached to a firearm muzzle, converts to a hammer and a screwdriver. It’s a medieval version of a Swiss army knife. Some suits of armour have V-shaped breastplates, designed to deflect blows from swords. Others are fluted to mimic pleats in civilian clothing, or intricately engraved to attract attention during parades, tournaments and jousting matches. Shelves display spare parts – metallic elbows, articulated gauntlets and lobster-tailed helmets. Much of the equipment bears the scars of battle. Everything is stored exactly the way it was when the arsenal was in use. The armoury is an undeniable highlight of the beautifully preserved medieval city of Graz. www.graztourismus.at/en Graz, Austria CSANews | SPRING 2024 | 15 Travel
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