Page 148 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Austria

146  A USTRIA REGION B Y REGION

y Melk Abbey

The town and abbey of Melk, the original seat of
the Babenbergs, tower above the left bank of the
Danube, some 60 km (37 miles) west of Vienna. In the
11th century, Leopold II invited the Benedictines from
Lambach to Melk and granted them land and the
castle, which the monks turned into a fortified abbey.
Almost completely destroyed by fire in 1297, the
abbey was rebuilt many times. In the 16th century,
it withstood a Turkish invasion. In 1702, Abbot Stairwell
Berthold Dietmayr began a thorough remodelling of A spiral staircase with ornamental
the complex. Jakob Prandtauer, Johann Michael balustrade connects the library
with the Stiftskirche, the monastery
Rottmayr, Joseph Munggenast and other renowned church of St Peter and St Paul.
artists of the day helped to give the present abbey
its magnificent Baroque form.

. Library
The impressive library holds some 100,000
volumes, including 2,000 manuscripts and
1,600 incunabula. It is decorated with a
beautiful ceiling fresco by Paul Troger.

KEY
1 The Marble Hall, a magnificent
room decorated with a painting
by Paul Troger, was once used for
receptions and ceremonies.
2 Convent courtyard
3 17th-century two-tiered
Crowning with the Crown fountain
of Thorns 4 The grand staircase leading to
This powerful painting by Jörg the imperial apartments is adorned
Breu (1502) is exhibited in the with putti and sculptures.
Abbey Museum.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p295 and pp316–18

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