The Residenz in Wurzburg is a palace that people go to see for a staircase. Balthasar Neumann, one of the great architects of the baroque, designed it for the prince-bishops of Wurzburg, who ruled this part of Franconia, and it was built between 1720 and 1744. The grand staircase is a single, unsupported vault, and above it, covering the whole ceiling, is a fresco by the Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, painted in 1752 and 1753. It shows the four continents, with Apollo and the gods above, and at roughly 600 square metres it is one of the largest ceiling paintings in the world.
The palace was badly damaged on 16 March 1945, when British bombers destroyed most of the city in a single night. The roof burned, but the great vault and its fresco survived, thanks to emergency repairs by the local people, and the building was restored over the following decades. UNESCO listed it in 1981, and it is now a magnificent museum with rooms of mirrors, gilding and stucco. The Hofgarten behind it is a pleasant place for a walk.
Wurzburg sits on the river Main, in the middle of a wine region, and the city is full of wine. The local wine, Franken, is dry and crisp, and it is sold in a squat, flat bottle called a Bocksbeutel. You can taste it in wine bars and at the old Bürgerspital cellars. The old bridge across the Main is lined with statues of saints, and the fortress of Marienberg stands above on the opposite bank. The city has about a hundred and thirty thousand people, and Hochberg is a smaller town on the western side.
Wurzburg is the start of the Romantic Road, a famous tourist route that runs south through medieval towns to the Alps. The riding around the city is gentle, with roads through vineyards and woods, and the Main valley is pretty. Fuel and food are easy. In the city, park near the edge, as the centre has many one-way streets. Autumn, when the grapes are harvested, is a wonderful time to visit.