"Magnificent Melk" Vienna Things to Do Tip by TheWanderingCamel

If you think Melk Abbey looks magnificent as it looms into sight along the Danube, once you're there and walking through the building, the magnificence is all but overwhelming. That all this opulence is still a working monastery is sometime hard to grasp but there has been a continuous Benedictine presence here for over 900 years and even today this splendid building is first and foremost home to a Benedictine community whose 30 monks are actively involved in pastoral care, education (the abbey school has 900 students), tourism and the preservation of this wonderful place. Benedictine communities are all required to be self-sufficient and, like their Benedictine brothers all over the world, the monks of Melk are no slouches in ensuring their monastery shows itself off to tourists in the best possible way.

Guided tours take the visitor through a very modern museum that mixes priceless treasures with a video and computer presentation in what were once the Imperial guest rooms, a grand Marble Hall and a fabulous library linked by a high terrace in front of the abbey church's west facade that offers sweeping views of the town and river below and finally down an extraordinary spiral staircase to the church - the crowning glory of the monastery - where stucco and fresco, gilding and carving of the highest order combine to dazzling effect.

Acres of garden, an excellent restaurant, and the inevitable gift shop offer the visitor a choice of how to spend the rest of their time at Melk.

Check the website below and take a virtual tour of some of the highlights of a visit to Melk.

Directions: 80km north of Vienna, on the Danube.
Website: http://www.stiftmelk.at/