Boasting one of the ten largest cultural complexes in the world, the grounds of the MuseumsQuartier opened in 2001 and impress the visitor with both their extension and by the variety of proposals housed therein.

Bounded by the former royal stables and located in front of two other major cultural institutions, the Art History Museum and the Natural History Museum, the MuseumsQuartier offers visitors the opportunity to visit forty different facilities spread over an area of more than 60,000 m2.

Another key advantage is provided by the striking contrast between the Baroque buildings built in the eighteenth century by Johann Bernard Fischer von Erlach and the modern architecture of the complex, largely the work of the Austrian studio Ortner & Ortner, which is responsible for such structures as the cubic Leopold Museum. 

Day and night, the MQ is one of Vienna's main meeting places for visitors.  The area also features are bars, cafes, designer shops and a large esplanade full of plasterboard armchairs where visitors can sit or lie down. Every year the armchairs are painted a different colour and have already become a local landmark.

The main courtyard hosts a variety of activities and allows a panoramic view of the wonderful surrounding buildings such as the intriguing MUMOK, which houses a collection of 7000 works of modern and contemporary art that includes pieces by Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Jasper Johns and Roy Lichstenstein, or the prestigious Kunsthalle Wien Exhibition Hall, a beautiful Baroque building that houses international contemporary art and which is located behind the Halle E+G, a former winter riding school which now houses the Tanzquartier Wien dance centre. The courtyard also hosts a variety of other events including some of the activities of the Vienna Festival.

The big advantage of the cultural adventure offered by the MuseumsQuartier is that by traveling short distances one can discover anything from Austrian art in the Leopold Museum, which contains one of the largest permanent collections of Austrian modern art and where visitors can enjoy works of the 19th century, a collection of paintings of the Secession style with works by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele (his largest collection), paintings from the Austrian inter-war period (for example, works by Maria Lassnig) and Expressionism, with works by Oscar Kokoschka or Max Oppenheimer, to the ZOOM Kindermuseum, a leisure centre dedicated to children, and the Quartier21, a multidisciplinary space dedicated to different manifestations of contemporary culture and which offers grants to aid artists in the develop their projects. 

Cinema, performance art, video art and electronic music also find shelter under the roof of the MuseumsQuartier. The concept behind these activities is to propose a review of culture and art from a current perspective. 

As you can see there's no shortage of art in the MuseumsQuartier, and with the variety of proposals on offer, something is bound to pique your interest.