Excursion tour in Dresden. Top architecture - monuments, castles, temples and palaces

» The Semperoper is an opera house in Dresden. It was opened in 1841 and named after Gottfried Semper, an architect and project author.
»  The Semperoper is concert hall used by one of the oldest orchestras in the world, the Staatskapelle Dresden founded in 1548.
»  Over the years of its existence, the opera house had faced two difficulties. In 1869, there was a fire. In 1945, the building was bombed. However, it was restored.
»  The Semperoper became a world-famous opera house where a lot of premiers were staged. Here, 9 of the 15 operas of composer Richard Strauss were staged for the first time.
»  The exterior and interior of the opera house really impress with their magnificence. Visitors should also pay attention of aprons decorated with horizontal stripes depicting characters of famous dramas and plays.

» The Porcelain Museum is located in one of the four buildings of the Zwinger Palace, in Dresden. It is a truly wonderful place for museums of this type!
»  The Porcelain Museum in Dresden houses the biggest and top-quality collection of porcelain in the world.
»  The museum was founded due to the porcelain collection of Saxon elector Augustus the Strong who was so obsessed by porcelain that he even called his passion “a porcelain disease”. He managed to build the biggest collection of porcelain in Europe.
»  Today, the museum houses the best pieces of the porcelain collection (about 750 exhibits). In total, there are about 20 000 exhibits.
»  The museum collection also includes items made in the period of the Ming dynasty in China. Here, you can also famous Chinese porcelain of the Kangxi era and Japanese “kakiemon” and “imari” porcelain of the beginning of the 17th and 18th centuries. Also, the museum collection includes precious porcelain ware that can tell you about the development of Meissen porcelain, from secrets of its production in 1708 to the late 18th century.

» The Hofkirche was built as a court church commissioned by Frederick Augustus II in 1739-1754. It was connected with the royal palace through a passage.
»  Frederick Augustus II dreamt of becoming a king of Poland, and after converting from Protestantism to Catholicism for that, he wanted his subjects to follow his example.
»  The temple was built to be Catholic, but it had a feature not typical of Christian churches – the main altar was oriented to the west instead of the east. Napoleon’s special permission had to be obtained so that the bells of a Catholic church could ring in the Protestant city.
»  The interior decoration of the church was done with special luxury. The main altar is decorated with a monumental canvas of 9x4 metres called the Ascension of Christ (1752-1765) by Anton Raphael Mengs. Gottfried Silbermann’s largest pipe organ was installed in the temple. It remained intact because it was taken out during the war.
»  The cathedral has a family vault where 49 members of the Wettin dynasty are buried, except Frederick Augustus the Strong buried in Krakow as he was King of Poland. But his heart is stored in a copper capsule in the Hofkirche.
»  In 1945, the cathedral was destroyed and began to be restored immediately after the war. The restoration was completed in 1962.
»  In 1980, the Hofkirche became the Holy Trinity Cathedral. The Russian diaspora presented the parish with a copy of the Orthodox icon by Andrei Rublev called The Holy Trinity.

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Facts: » In 1971-1990, Glücksgas-Stadion was called Dynamo-Stadion. However, in 1990, it was renamed after Rudolf Harbig, a famous German athlete, and had that name up until December 2010.
»  Glücksgas-Stadion is a multi-purpose stadium located in Dresden, Germany.
»  The well-known arena is the home stadium of the Dynamo Dresden football club.
»  The German Democratic Republic national team – and later the united Germany team – played ten international matches at the famous stadium. In total, national teams took part in eleven matches held on the field in Dresden.
»  On 9 March 1969 the German Democratic Republic football team played a friendly match with Dynamo Dresden at the Glücksgas Stadium.
»  The construction of the former Dynamo-Stadion began around 1874.
»  The famous sports construction can accommodate over 32,000 people.
»  The stadium has an open field that is 105 x 68 metres in size. The covered rectangular stands are placed along the perimeter of the field.
»  Glücksgas-Stadion still functions today.

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Facts: » The Church of St. Luke was built in the 19th century. Now, it is located in the center of the university area in Dresden.
»  The church is famous for classical music concerts. Here, you can listen to symphonies, orchestras, and choirs.
»  The building that is famous all over the world for its acoustics is a place with a wonderful atmosphere where different events often take place.
»  Many famous classical musicians composed their music at the Church of St. Luke.
»  The church is a popular attraction in Dresden. Here, tourists can visit not only services, but also music concerts. Many people come here just to admire the amazing exterior and interior of the temple.

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Facts: » The Old Masters Gallery is a world-famous art gallery in Dresden. It houses one of the biggest collections of paintings.
»  The gallery is really unique. Here, you can see the best pieces of Italian art of the Renaissance period: works of Tiziano, Botticelli, Raphael, Veronese, and Correggio.
»  In the museum, there is the collection of Dutch and Flemish artists’ paintings of the 14th century and works of German, Spanish, and French artists.
»  The art gallery was founded in 1560 and had developed successfully for many years until the building was damaged during the Second World War. In wartime, three-quarters of paintings were destroyed or taken out of the country.
»  After the war, the rooms of the gallery were renovated. There are all conditions for storing and displaying paintings. The Old Masters Gallery is considered as one of the most popular museums in Germany. Every year, it is visited by many people.