Pirna Germany Saxony
Frequently Asked Questions
On the Elbe between Dresden and Saxon Switzerland, steps from a flat, compact old centre covered on foot in about an hour of wandering.
Because the Venetian painter Bernardo Bellotto, known as Canaletto, devoted eleven large canvases to this small Elbe town around 1750. The remarkable part: the market square has barely changed since.
The market square and its Renaissance façades, the Marienkirche and its painted vaults, the lanes with carved doorways, then a terrace café with a print of the painting to play spot the difference.
The sandstone massif beginning upstream of town, with its cliffs and pinnacles. Pirna presents itself as the gateway, and that is not just a slogan.
By coach, or more memorably by the historic paddle steamers serving Rathen, from where a path climbs to the viewpoint. This rocky spur 194 metres above the river is linked by a stone bridge spanning the void between the pinnacles.
Half a day, and proper shoes. Photographers should aim for the morning, when mist still clings to the sandstone pinnacles.
A large Gothic hall church whose vaults, painted with scrollwork, surprise above a bright, generous space. Its tower rewards the willing with a view that sets the town back in its ring of hills.
Yes, twenty kilometres downstream, and suburban trains link the local station to Dresden in about twenty minutes. Many itineraries already schedule Dresden the day before or after.
Eierschecke, the layered cake whose recipe Saxony guards jealously, served in the cafés on the square. A plum turnover goes well with a stroll.
The euro. Cards work at restaurants and main shops, but keep cash for the Saxon craft shops, cafés and the morning market.
