The word "Schloßberg" literally means "castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

", which describes it exactly. It is a hill topped by a castle, in the centre of the city of Graz

Graz

The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

.

Among Graz's most famous tourist attractions, the castle, never occupied until its partial demolition by Napoleonic

Napoleon I of France

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...

 forces under the Peace of Schönbrunn of 1809, was once a place of refuge for Graz's residents. It was turned into a public park on account of Ludwig von Welden

Ludwig von Welden

Franz Ludwig Baron von Welden was an Austrian army officer whose career culminated in becoming the commander-in-chief of the Austrian artillery....

 in 1839.

The Schloßberg contains an "Uhrturm" (clock tower

Clock tower

A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...

), which functions as a recognisable icon for the city. Near the Uhrturm there is a café with views over the old town. Additionally, on the western side of the Schloßberg, there are two small cafés, one with table service and the other one with self-service. Next to the terminus of the funicular

Funicular

A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...

 railway there is a hilltop restaurant with views of western Graz.

There is also a Turkish Well that was built by Turkish slaves that was used to get water during times when Schlossberg was under siege. The water was routed from the nearby River Mur.

An open-air stage for concerts and performances is located in the cellars of the former fortress. Furthermore, you can see two bastion

Bastion

A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...

s and the belltower. To reach the top of the hill one can either take the funicular railway (Schloßbergbahn), an elevator

Elevator

An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...

built inside the mountain, or one of the older sets of pathways and steps.

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