Melk Abbey

After the Danube river cruise we traveled a short distance to the Melk Abbey located above the town of Melk overlooking the Danube river.  The Melk Abbey is one of the most famous monestic sites in the world, founded in 1089 by Benedictine monks from Lambach Abbey when a castle was donated by Leopoldo II.  The current Baroque abbey was designed and built between 1702 and 1736.  The Abbey church is decorated with wonderful frescos and the library contains an impressive collection of medieval manuscripts.  Because of the abbey's fame and academic status, it has managd to survive many threats to its existence including the Napoleonic Wars and the Nazi domination.  To learn more about the impressive history of the Abbey, see Melk Abbey.

This was a spectacular setting with wonderful architecture, beautiful views of the countryside, and beautiful paintings and art within.  The photo set with this post contains some of the most beautiful photos of the trip.  During our tour, we walked through the major courtyard, some of the Abbey, some museum rooms, the library, a fantastic dining room / ballroom, the church, and across a balcony with fabulous views of the countryside.  In one of the museum rooms the magnificent Melk Cross was displayed, adored with precious jewels and said to contain an actual splinter of the Crucifix of Christ in a compartment inside the jeweled cross.

This was a very interesting tour and worth anyone's time who passes through this area.