The building of the Parliament en Vienna houses the two chambers of Austria: the Nationalrat (national council) and Bundesrat (federal council). It is not only the political center of Austria, it is also a very popular tourist attraction in Vienna.
The first stone was laid in 1874 and it was only used in 1883. The Parliament It is a sample of the revival of the Greek style. The most striking detail is the 4.5-meter statue of Athena in front of the Parliament. The pediment of the building is decorated with relief scenes from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. There are eight Corinthian style columns supporting the pediment. The roof of the building is decorated with 4 chariots made of bronze. Austrian marble was used for much of the construction.
Inside the highlight is the Hall of the Pillars and the Chamber of the Federal Assembly (name of the joint session of both chambers). Both also have strong Greek influences. The first has 24 Corinthian pillars of 16 tons each. The assembly loads the skylight and the coffered sides. Refering to Camera, is based on a Greek amphitheater. It has a total of 516 seats. The back of the chamber has marble colonnades that carry the pediment. The figures on it represent the hours of the day. On the side of the colonnades there are statues of historical figures from antiquity.
Ticket price is 4 euros. When the Parliament is in session, only the Visitor Center opens —which only has information and a cafeteria— from 08:30 to 18:30. When parliament is in recess, it is open to the public from Monday to Friday from 09:30 until 16:30. On Saturdays it opens until 13:30 p.m. The best time to visit it is in summer.
To get there you can take trams 1 or 2. You can also get there quickly through the metro from Vienna (U-Bahn) taking lines U2 and U3 towards volstheater.
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