Discover Enns: Roman History, Old Town and Culture

Enns combines its Roman past, medieval urban history and impressive buildings to create a cultural destination with many different discoveries. Families can choose between museums, guided tours, churches and historical details in the old town. When looking for a holiday apartment in Enns, it is therefore worth considering the focus you want for your trip: Should the journey primarily lead into the city’s history, provide archaeological insights or combine various guided tours?

Experience Urban History and Roman Heritage

The Museum 1212 Enns begins its presentation of the city’s history with the Georgenberg Compact of 1186. It also presents the town charter granted to the city of Enns in 1212. In eight rooms at Ennsegg Castle, the museum traces the city’s development up to the present day. The presentation includes multimedia stations and staged rooms.

The Lauriacum Museum focuses on the Roman past. Particular emphasis is placed on the monumental building inscription of the Lauriacum legionary camp. Those who would like to learn more about the Roman settlement and the legio II Italica stationed there can plan a two-hour guided tour. Another focal point is the Basilica of St. Lawrence. Beneath the building are visible excavations of Lauriacum featuring remnants of frescoes, a votive stone and a relief stone with sacrificial scenes built into the wall. A guided tour of the basilica provides an overview of more than 1,700 years of religious life.

Old Town, Towers and Historic Churches

Enns’s old town is characterised by buildings that mostly date from the 15th and 16th centuries. During a tour, visitors can see Gothic door and window surrounds, Renaissance sgraffito ornaments, Baroque stucco and Gründerzeit friezes. In this way, the city’s history becomes visible not only in the museum, but also on the façades and in the details of the townscape.

A prominent landmark is the almost 60-metre-high town tower. The citizens had it built between 1564 and 1568 as a bell and watchtower. Its gallery is reached via 157 steps. You should take this specific challenge into account when planning your day. The Frauen Tower houses the former chapel of the Knights Hospitaller, with mixed-media wall paintings from the early 14th century. A pilgrims’ hospice was built in Enns between 1326 and 1338 and incorporated the chapel. The history of the site is also linked to the European Way of St. James, which historically continued westwards through Switzerland, France and northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela.

The parish church of Enns–St. Mary is an important mendicant-order church dating from the 14th century and has been a parish church in Enns since the 16th century. It is also included in the Classic City Tour, a 90-minute guided tour through Enns’s old town that also covers the Wallsee Chapel.

Guided Tours for Different Interests

The Classic City Tour is suitable as a structured introduction. Those who would like to explore individual buildings in greater depth can see the interior of the Renaissance building at Ennsegg Castle, decorated with frescoes and stucco work, as well as the tower and the Baroque castle chapel, on guided tours. The IVV City Experience Trail has more than 25 information stations and thus offers numerous starting points for exploring Enns independently. Depending on age and interests, your stay can be organised around short discoveries, a longer guided tour and extended museum visits.

Travel and Suitable Accommodation Planning

ÖBB and Postbus services stop directly at Enns’s main square, opposite the museum. From Enns railway station, the main square can be reached via Westbahnstraße, Lorcherstraße and Mauthausnerstraße. If you would like to combine several museums, churches and guided tours, you can choose your holiday apartment in Enns according to your preferred daily routine and planned length of stay.

If you would like to extend your travel plans beyond Enns, you can find more destinations under Eggendorf Im Traunkreis, Pasching, Linz, Hargelsberg, Hofkirchen Im Traunkreis, Rappersdorf, Pucking and Oftering.

To the higher-level travel overview: Linz-Land.