Melk Abbey is a Franciscan Abbey that sits on a rocky outcropping above the Danube River in lower Austria’s Wachau Valley. It was originally founded in the 1100s, and has shown great resilience… surviving fires, the Plague, and various reformations. Today it is home to about 900 students, both male and female, as well as a local children’s school.
The first part of the tour centered around the Abbey’s collection of fine relics. The themes were that these chalices, crosses, and paintings allow paths to Heaven from Earth. The second theme involved the unknown etiology of many of the articles as records were often destroyed in fires over the last few centuries. The artifacts were presented in display rooms and presented to us by the Abbey’s excellent tour guides.
The photo above shows the entrance to the Abbey. We walked through another courtyard before entering the Abbey itself.
Once we got past the initial presentations, the real tour began. We went through a series of rooms, each becoming more impressive.
This was their library of old books and manuscripts. There was a fresco on the ceiling and hidden compartments in the bookshelves.
This was a formal dining and assembly room. The kitchen was directly below and the aromas came through the vent in the floor to entice the visitors. The monks were not allowed to eat here … Also, I couldn’t help wondering if the smells and possible smoke from the kitchen had an adverse effect on the fresco directly above. There is no way to convey how beautiful this is !!
Then we were ushered outside to pass to another building. But the walk over allowed beautiful views of both the Abbey tower and the Danube River
And finally, they saved the best for last … We entered the church, used by the monks, at the Abbey. They say that the cathedrals of Europe allow a glimpse of Heaven here on Earth. Well, this Abbey succeeded!!!
A few words of explanation. We were not allowed to take photos within the Abbey. So I bought pictures from the gift shop and inserted them into this entry. But these come nowhere near the actual brilliance of this church…
Everything was so bright and gold in color. The picture directly above is looking straight up at the ceiling … They mentioned that occasionally they have a boy’s choir stand along the circular guard rail to sing. Very dangerous. Eventually, we had to come out of “Heaven” and walk back to the ship. Here is my parting picture of the Abbey from below:
The Adventures of Barry Brink 