Landhaus (Country House), Graz

The Country House of Graz is the perfect place to kick back. One ia awed at the sight of the spacious courtyard. Three floors of arcades, 16th century gargoyles, a bronze fountain, all these form a Mannerist playground. It is the perfect place for feasts, events, concerts, films and the annual Christmas ice crib.

It is a vision of the palaces of Venice come to the Austria. In 1557 the Italian architect Domenico dell'Aglio, a fortress architect who was supervising the restoration of the Castle Hill, started work on the Country House for the Styrian estates. The estates were done with holding their meetings at different places. They needed a place in Graz.

The interior of the Country House is full of Baroque adornments. The Session Hall has a stucco ceiling installed by Johann Angelo Formentini. There are escutcheons, coats of arms, and porcelain stoves decorated with the Austrian Eagle and the Styrian panther. In the Meeting Room the ceiling is decorated with signs of the Zodiac.

In 1631, after the expulsion of the Protestant estates, the Country House chapel got its black and gold Jesuit altar. The altarpiece shows the assumption of the Virgin. The two statues of Saints Catherine and Barbara signify the restoration of Catholicism in Graz.