Graz Hotels

Graz is the second-largest city in Austria after Vienna and the capital of the federal state of Styria.
Graz has a long tradition as a student city: its six universities have more than 44,000 students. Grazs "Old Town" is one of the best preserved city centres in Central Europe. In 1999, it was added to the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage Sites. Graz was sole Cultural Capital of Europe for 2003.
The oldest settlement on the ground of the modern city of Graz dates back to the Copper Age. However, there is no historical continuity of a settlement before the Middle Ages.
The name of the city, Graz and some archaeological finds point to the erection of a small castle by South Slavic people, which in time became a heavily defended fortification. In literary Slovene, gradec literally means "small castle", which is etymologically a hypocoristic derivative of Proto West South Slavic , itself by means of liquid metathesis descending from Common Slavic, by Slavic third palatalisation from Proto-Slavic originally denoting "small town, settlement". The name thus follows the common South Slavic pattern for naming settlements as grad. The German name Graz was first used in 1128, and during this time dukes under Babenberg rule made the town into an important commercial center. Later Graz came under the rule of the Habsburgs, and in 1281 gained special privileges from King Rudolph I.
In the 14th century Graz became the city of residence of the Inner Austrian line of the Habsburgs. The royalty lived in the Schloßberg castle and from there ruled Styria, Carinthia, and parts of today's Italy and Slovenia. In the 16th century, the city's design and planning were primarily controlled by Italian Renaissance architects and artists. One of the most famous buildings built in this style is the Landhaus. It was designed by Domenico dell'Allio, and was used by the local rulers as a governmental headquarters