There are places where history lovers can't be torn away. Armory in Graz is just that place - a place where one of the world's largest collections of cold weapons is collected.

Once there was just a warehouse, where 16 thousand soldiers at a time were able to dress up. The presence of such a warehouse was a severe necessity for citizens during the Ottoman Empire. The city is located at the foot of the Alps and was the last Outpost on the way of the Turks to the Danube valley.

Therefore, the citizens prepared thoroughly for the invasions. And there were several similar warehouses in the city. As time went on, the strategy changed, and in 1749 Empress Maria Theresa ordered to centralize the defense of Austria and leave only one Armory. It has been preserved to this day.

The Empress had the idea to dismantle the building. However, the people of Styria begged to leave it as a monument to the bravery of the Austrians. The Empress listened to people, so today we can personally visit this unique place.

It is gratifying that in addition to the building itself, an impressive collection of armor and weapons has survived to our times. There are 3,300 armors and helmets, over 7,800 small arms, and 2.5 thousand swords and sabers.

On the first floor of the building, there is a cannon hall. The second and the third floors contain medieval armor and weapons, both combat and tournament. There was even animal armor because the warhorse needed armor as much as the rider.

By the way, different animals were used for tournaments and fights. Animals for tournaments had to be tall and heavy. After all, they had to start quickly, develop maximum speed and allow the rider to break the enemy.

However, in battles, hardy horses were used, which were not afraid of the sounds of battle and carried their rider for a long time. Such horses were very expensive. In the Armory, every connoisseur can view the uniforms of war horses, as well as a great variety of swords, maces and other weapons of war.