Vienna Ring Road 4.61

The Ring Road is a circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic Innere Stadt district of Vienna, Austria. The road is located where medieval city fortifications once stood, including high walls and the open field that lay before them.The Ring Road was constructed after the dismantling of the city walls in the mid-19th century. From the 1860s to 1890s many large public buildings were erected along the Ring Road in an eclectic historicist style -- sometimes called Ringstraßenstil -- using elements of Classical, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture.Because of its architectural beauty and history, the Vienna Ring Road has been called the "Lord of the Ring Roads" and is designated by UNESCO as part of Vienna's World Heritage Site.HistoryThis grand boulevard was built to replace the city walls, which had been built during the 13th century and funded by the ransom payment derived from the release of Richard the Lion Heart, Richard I of England, and reinforced as a consequence of the First Turkish Siege in 1529. The walls were surrounded by a glacis about 500m wide, where buildings and vegetation were prohibited for military defensive reason. But by the late 18th century these fortifications had become obsolete. Under Emperor Joseph II, streets and walkways were built in the glacis, lit by lanterns and lined by trees. Craftsmen built open-air workshops, and stalls were set up. But the Revolution of 1848 was required to trigger a more significant change.