| Take a walk back into history. Only a few footsteps away from the Ringstrasse and right behind the Museumsquartier lie two former self-governing suburban communities, the Spittelberg and the village of St. Ulrich. Spittelberg was the more notorious one known for its low-life, dives, gambling dens and brothels. It was only in the 1970s, that the city recognized the architectural potential of this neighbourhood. Its Baroque and Biedermeier houses were carefully restored to their original 18th and 19th century appearance and small specialist shops, pubs, bars and restaurants filled them with life. St. Ulrich is dominated by the spectacular Baroque Ulrichskirche, where court composer Christopher Willibald Gluck was married and Johann Strauss the Younger was christened. Its quaint nooks and crannies are popular with film-makers. It is also is home to the little-known monastery of the Armenian Catholic Mekhitarist order, the only stronghold of Armenian culture in Europe besides San Lazzaro degli Armeni in Venice. |
