Mozartplatz Square

Mozart may not have spent much time in Salzburg as an adult (leaving for the bright lights of Paris and Vienna when he was 21) but this city was both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's home town and his birthplace. The refined area around Mozart Square, part of a complex of squares at the heart of Salzburg, is where the city pays homage to its most famous son. It's a square that would have familiar to him – Mozart was born around the corner at 9 Getreidegasse, and even lived on the square with his wife, in the 1770s when it was still called Michaelsplatz.

Now he stands in the centre, a proud bronze atop a plinth that serves as a memorial to one of Austria's—and the world's—most renowned of musicians and composers. Not that Salzburg found the effort of erecting a statue to Wolfgang a breeze. The impetus for a memorial to this musical genius (whose life was so tragically cut short) came from Ludwig I, the King of Bavaria. He was as passionate about Mozart's music as he was about his adopted city of Salzburg, and donated funds to help to make it happen.

At the time the city was strapped for cash, and removing the fountain and statue of St Michael to replace it with Mozart's was not a priority for the city's leaders. When work did start in 1841, it had to be halted when a Roman mosaic was found underneath the site. That has been preserved, and now lies next to the memorial, with an intriguing plaque. Work finished on the statue in 1842, but sadly Mozart's widow died before the dedication ceremony.

Music is still alive and well in Mozartplatz, even two centuries after Mozart's death. The Institute of Music of the University of Salzburg is here on the eastern side of the square, at the Kanonikalhöfe. The square also boasts numerous quiet cafés, and a Clock Tower that houses a chiming Glockenspiel. It is also a perfect performing space for some of Austria's finest musical buskers—performing Mozart scores only, of course.