Würzburg is special to me. For a large number of reasons, the city on the Main river has a very important place in my heart.

The capital of the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria, Würzburg has been a very important centre for religion and education since Early and Medieval history. A former Celtic territory, the city was later invaded by two Germanic tribes and then christianised by the Irish missionaries Kilian, Kolonat and Totnan. The first appointed bishop, Saint Burkhard, created a duchy which extended to Eastern Franconia. Würzburg became the seat of many Imperial Diets thus giving this city a feature that not many others possess: in Würzburg, the church and the Imperial powers were merged in one. Even the Old City's layout has the shape of a mitre, a bishop's hat.

Würzburg is also the seat of one of the oldest universities in Germany. Founded in 1402, Uni Würzburg has 10 faculties all over town and approx. 22,000 students, with more than a thousand of them coming from other countries. As a consequence, this medium-sized city feels somehow like a big metropolis! Here you'll find great Kebab restaurants (Try Istanbul Kebab on the Kaiserstraße, one of the best ones in town), Chinese food, Vietnamese cuisine (Ha Long Bay has the best attention by the kindest Vietnamese folks I've met) and regional dishes such as the Bratwurst am Marktplatz (The best one you'll ever have), plus the characteristic dry white wine, the Frankenwein, which has a large fan base including Goethe.

Because this post is about Würzburg, I'll allow myself to be a bit more personal. My life is and will forever be linked to this city. It was here where my parents got married and started our family. Coming here to visit my family is what developed my love for traveling in the first place. Just the sights of the Old Main bridge with its statues of saints and gulls flying around them, the Marienberg Fortress adorned by vineyards, people sipping on their Aperol Spritz and chatting while they sit on the Mainufer, the Baroque beauty of the Residenz; these views give me all I need to keep going.

As simple as this: there is no place more charming on Earth to me.

View of the Marienberg fortress.

Juliuspromenade.

This view welcomes everyone at the Bahnhof (train station).

Baroque beauty: Juliusspital, which houses a hospital and the second largest winery in Germany.

Juliusspital.

Juliusspital.

Alter Kranen.

Die Mainperle. Another shot of the Marienberg fortress and the Old Main bridge.

Those walks along the Mainkai...

Domstraße with the Würzburg Cathedral in Romanesque style.

Stadt Mainz restaurant, where my parents celebrated their wedding.

Marienkapelle and Haus zum Falken.

Colourful side streets.

Würzburger Residenz, one the most beautiful Baroque palaces in Europe.

Residenz zu Würzburg.