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Roman Catholic church in eye-catching Italianate High Baroque, looking like it belongs in Syracuse. The Theatins were an austere monastic order founded by the 15th century Saint Cajetan, and they built several similar churches. This one was built from 1662 as thanksgiving for the birth of Maximilian II Emanuel, which secured the royal succession. The church was damaged in wartime but restored, and is now in the care of the Dominican Order.
The Theatine Church of St. Cajetan and Adelaide is a Roman Catholic church in Munich, Southern Germany. Built between 1663 and 1690, it was founded by Elector Ferdinand Maria and his wife, Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, as a gesture of thanks for the birth of the long-awaited heir to the Bavarian crown in 1662, Prince Max Emanuel. Currently administered by the Dominican Order, it is also known as the Dominican Priory of St. Cajetan.
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Royal Palace and seat of government of the Wittelsbach dynasty, bombed in wartime but rebuilt. The two principal areas are the Treasury and the Museum (separate admission €9 each). The Treasury (Schatzkammer) has a huge collection of ecclesiastical and secular bling, such as the royal crowns, orb and sceptre. In the Museum, the Antiquarium is the barrel-vaulted banqueting hall. The Papal Rooms accommodated Pius VI on his visit to Munich and are Baroque. The Ancestral Gallery, Porcelain Cabinet and Ornate Rooms are Rococo. The neo-classical Königsbau, added in the 19th century, houses the Charlotte Rooms, the royal apartments and the Halls of Battles. There's an additional charge for the Cuvilliés Theatre.
Modern art museum, no permanent collection but rotating exhibitions. It's funded by HypoVereinsbank.
Shows ballet and opera performances almost every night.
Church of Our Lady
This huge church defines the Munich skyline with its twin onion-domed towers, a shade over 98 m tall - the money ran out for the planned spires. It's the Roman Catholic cathedral, but always known locally as Frauenkirche. It was built from 1469 to 1488 in brick because of a lack of suitable local stone; the towers were only completed in 1525, cleverly anticipating a law of 2004 that no structure within Altstadt may exceed 99 m in height. Although its style is Gothic, it's fairly simple outside and in, without the usual ornamentation of that style. Eleven kings or archdukes of Bavaria are interred here. The church was bombed in wartime and full restoration took until 1994. Its three naves are of equal height, creating a single hall soaring so high that you can't see the windows, and light floods in from no visible source. This is in legend is the feature that caused the devil to stamp in pique, leaving a black footprint (Teufelstritt) within a yellow flagstone just inside the entrance. You can climb the south tower.
Staatskanzlei
This fills the east side of Hofgarten, housing the Bavarian Minister (president of the Lande government) and his / her cabinet meetings. The central dome was built in 1879 to house the Royal Bavarian Army Museum. It was bombed out in World War II and only restored in the 1980s. The modern side wings were built 1989-93. In front of the building is a memorial to Munich citizens who died in wartime, and a statue of Duke Otto I, 12th century founder of the Bavarian royal dynasty. Admission to the Chancellery is only on business but their website gives an online tour.
Grand Renaissance church built for the Jesuits 1583-1599 by Duke Wilhelm V, as a bastion of the Counter-Reformation against those awful Lutherans. The Duke nearly busted the state coffers in buying up the land and funding a construction that townsfolk reckoned was too big to stand. And down fell the tower: "I know, I'll build it bigger". This version survived until bombed in wartime and was restored in the 1950s. The facade and interior continue the triumphal theme, for example the statue of Archangel Michael slaying a demon who might be Protestant. The church crypt holds many tombs of the Wittelsbach dynasty, including "mad king" Ludwig II.