!!!Glacis

Glacis: The Glacis was the vast area outside the former Vienna city 
wall, intended as a defence plain against enemy attack and to allow 
cannon fire on enemy troops during sieges. An imperial decree of 1558 
forbade housing construction within a distance of 50 Klafter (= 95 m) 
from the city moat. In 1770, trees and other plants were cultivated in 
this area and it was only then that it was given the name Glacis. The 
Viennese loved this new recreational area, especially the 
"Wasser-Glacis", now part of the Stadtpark. In 1857 Emperor Franz 
Joseph I ordered that the city should be expanded and that the Glacis 
was to be used as a building area. The result of this building 
activity was the Ringstrasse circular roadway. Until 1870 the area 
between Burgtor and Schottentor (the "Flegelwiese", as it was called 
by the Viennese), was used as a military parade ground.


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