Vienna State Opera

It was the first great building on the Ringstrasse, opening in 1869 with Mozart's Don Giovanni. The Viennese disliked it at first, and both architects died before the opening. Gustav Mahler ran it from 1897 to 1907. A bomb set it on fire in 1945, and it reopened ten years later with Beethoven's Fidelio.

It stages opera and ballet almost every night from September to June, with a repertoire that changes daily. Guided tours show the grand staircase, the foyer and the auditorium. In February it hosts the Opera Ball, the highlight of Vienna's ball season.