Passau

The city at the junction of three rivers is in a striking natural location, overlooked by a Gothic castle. Passau's old town is criss-crossed by centuries-old streets with an assortment of historic buildings and styles. In its Gothic town hall building the city's associations with the medieval epic poem Das Nibelungenlied are celebrated by interior paintings.

Baroque churches appeared in the old town after a great city fire and the cathedral, with its opulent facade and intricate painted ceilings, is the prominent example.

The pilgrimage church of Mariahilf, with its stair climb from the river Inn, is typical of the Catholic flavour everywhere in the city, which is a theological centre.