Up until 1816, SALZBURG led a separate life to the rest of Austria, existing as an independent city-state ruled by a sequence of powerful prince-archbishops . An ambitious and cultured bunch, they turned the city into the most Italianate city north of the Alps. Spread out below the brooding presence of the Hohensalzburg fortress, the churches, squares and alleyways of the compact Altstadt today recollect a long-disappeared Europe. For many, Salzburg is the qu... [More]