"Florence on the Elbe"

Known as “Florence on the Elbe”, Dresden was world renowned during the 18th and 19th centuries as a city of great beauty...from its fabulous architecture to being considered the cultural centre of Saxony. Sadly, most of these great buildings were destroyed in WWII, when on February 13th, 1945, British and US air forces mounted a vast carpet bombing raid on the city. Thousands of people perished in this air raid as well.

Many of the buildings continued to lie in rubble as late as 1995, when work began on several notable buildings including the Residenzschloss and the Frauenkirche. Meticulous restoration is still underway today but it ia exciting to see the city continuing to rebuild. Our recent trip allowed these photos

Frauenkirche - this Lutheran church located in the Altstadt area just completed its restoration in October 2005. Throughout the entire weekend we were visiting, the lines to enter this church snaked throughout the market square. Still, it was worth the wait to see this painstaking reconstruction - simply beautiful.

















Residenzschloss - the palace continues to undergo restoration, with the most recent completion being the "Green Vaults". If you have time to only see one thing in Dresden, this is it. However, their are 2 exhibits: the Historical Green Vaults and the New Green Vaults. Both are interesting, but the Historical Green Vault is the one that allows you to see the room decor along with many of the artifacts. Tickets go on sale at 10 am every day; limited tickets are available, so get there early. Tickets for the day's tours were gone by 10:30 am.











Hofkirche - another lovely church in Dresden.





Zwinger - this "palace converted art museum" contains many of the city's greatest art treasures.













Bruhl Terrace and the Elbe River.





Dresden's Sachsische Staatsoper (Opera House) and square.