Page 183 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Vienna

FUR THER AFIELD  181

their Austrian domain. The Spitz to Aggsbachdorf
Renaissance castle and Gothic Spitz w is another pretty wine
church were redeveloped in town and was a Protestant
the Baroque style around 1700. stronghold during the
At Weissenkirchen 6 the Reformat ion. It lies at the
church dates mainly from the 15th foot of the 1,000-Eimer Berg
and 16th centuries. The town (1,000-Bucket Mountain), so
is known for its wine, as are called because it is claimed
Joching 7 and Wösendorf 8. that in a good year the vine-
clad hills can produce enough
wine to fill 1,000 buckets. p The Benedictine abbey of Melk
Further on is a wall-like dominates the river and town
rocky precipice jutting
out from the bank, the (43-mile) River Pielach o,
Teufelsmauer or Devil’s 30 Bronze Age tombs and the
R i v e r D a n u b e Wall e, which has foundations of a Roman tower
given rise to a
have been excavated.
number of legends.
is the Benedictine abbey of
At Schwallenbach r The high point of the trip
the church was rebuilt Melk p. The pretty town has
after the Bohemians Renaissance houses, little
devastated the village streets, old towers and the
in 1463. Although you remnants of a city wall built
cannot see it from the in the Middle Ages. The
boat, you will pass very Baroque abbey, where
close to the village of Umberto Eco’s novel The
Willendorf t, Name of the Rose begins and
famous for the ends, is a treasure trove of
prehistoric findings paintings, sculptures and
made nearby, decorative art. The great library
including the statue contains 2,000 volumes from
Venus of Willendorf the 9th to the 15th centuries
(see pp22 and 130). alone. The church has a
Aggstein y has magnificent organ and an
a ruined castle high odd display of skeletons
above the river. Jörg dressed in luxurious materials
Scheck von Wald, inside glass coffins.
follower of Duke
Albrecht I, rebuilt and Tips for Independent
enlarged the original
castle in 1429. Legend Travellers
has it that he referred Starting points: Krems,
to a rock, placed at Dürnstein, Melk or any river trip
y The ruined castle above the river at the highest point of boarding point. River trip tickets
Aggstein the castle, as his rose garden. are on sale at these points.
He would force his imprisoned ∑ ddsg-blue-danube.at
Churches and ruins enemies to leap to their deaths Getting there: Take the train
Clearly visible on top of a hill, the if the ransom he demanded from Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof to
fortified Church of St Michael 9 failed to arrive. Aggsbachdorf Krems or Dürnstein. For Melk,
was built between 1500 and 1523. u was settled by the Romans in depart from Westbahnhof.
An unusual architectural detail is the 2nd century and owned by Stopping-off points: Dürnstein
the stone hares on its tower. Local the Kuenringer robber-barons has restaurants and shops.
folklore tells how so much snow during the Middle Ages. Melk Abbey Tel 02752 5550.
fell here once that hares were able Open Palm Sunday–1st Sun after
to leap onto the roof. All Souls: 9am–4:30pm (May–Sep:
On the same side of the river Schönbühel Castle to Melk 9am–5:30pm). 8 in English:
is a ruined arch on a hill, Das The picturesque castle of May–Oct 10:55am & 2:55pm.
Rote Tor 0, a fragment of a Schönbühel i stands on a Cycling: A cycle path runs along
the Danube. Hire bikes at Krems,
14th- century gate through rocky outcrop overlooking Melk, Spitz or Dürnstein train
which Swedish soldiers walked the Danube. Although early stations (reduction with train
on their way to Spitz in 1645 records date it to the 9th ticket), or from river trip boarding
during the Thirty Years’ War (see century, its present form is early points. Take your passport for
p27). The town of Mitterarnsdorf 19th-century. Further on, at identification. ∑ stiftmelk.at
q has Roman remains. the mouth of the 70-km long
For keys to symbols see back flap

180-181_EW_Vienna.indd 181 03/10/17 11:13 am