Famed for the splendor of its over-the-top baroque and rococo churches and palaces, Austria has an embarrassment of riches of these spectacular buildings, constructed over decades and decades, until the 20th century came along and architects began rejecting the high ornamentation of these styles. But I wasn’t visiting this central European country to see boring boxy buildings; I went to see gorgeous valleys and mountain ranges, tranquil lakes, and, in the cities, the grandeur of the long-lost art of beautiful, meaningful architecture. Read about the top five buildings in Austria >