Greetings from Austria...

We are now exploring Austria with the small yet exquisite town of Hall in Tirol as our home base. According to the literature we acquired from the Visitors' Center, in 1303 Duke Otto granted the town charter to Hall ('hal' was the old German word for salt), demonstrating the importance of the town, for it was here that salt was turned into gold.

Ten million tons of salt were mined in this valley (the town's coat of arms features a keg of salt with two golden lions guarding it).  The Inn River, where our hotel is nestled, is the same river on which salt was transported, making Hall the hub of medieval trade in early Europe.

What is this history lesson's bottom line?  Hall in Tirol was an extremely wealthy village when salt was money.  The architecture is exceptional from the Baroque church to the 500 year old mint.

The last photo shows the view from our Gasthof.  A wooden bridge crosses the river and allows us delightful dawdling amongst the history and beauty of this magnificent town.

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1 comments:

Four Points Bulletin said...

WOW. I adore the second picture. I wish I could jump in and be transported to that exact spot where the picture was taken.
Are you having any issues with language? Or is English and Italian enough?
I look forward to seeing more...
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