Melk Abbey

This will be the third time I have attempted to post this so lets see how it goes. On our way out of Vienna way back in mid-April we stopped to tour the Melk Abbey. This amazingly beautiful abbey sits in a hill overlooking the small town of Melk and the Danube river.

Some abbeys are so grandiose that they remind me of a palace and not at all how I would picture an abbey to look like before we moved to Europe. This abbey has a long history and was established as a fortified Benedictine abbey in the 11th century. The small admission price covers enterance to a small museum covering the history of the abbey, the marble hall, library and church. We made our way through it all in about 90 minutes.

The marble hall was beautiful.  The frescoed ceiling was amazing.  We spent a little bit of time in here waiting for a small group of students to leave so I could get a photo of the entire room without a bunch of people in it. 

After leaving the Marble Hall you walk out onto the balcony and have a view of the town and the exterior of the building.  I love looking up and seeing the contrast between the gold details and the blue sky.

The library was fantasic and had another frescoed ceiling.

The churches are so beautiful that it helps to sit down quietly to absorb it all and see everything before trying to take photos.  There are so many details that the camera does not do this place any justice!

The Melk Abbey was a beautiful place to visit.  It was recently restored and looks amazing, inside and out.  For once we were able to visit a famous place and not have a single bit of scaffolding or other restorations taking place.  While I of course understand and appreciate restoration projects the scaffolding does not look very pretty in photos!

Thanks for taking a virtual tour of the Melk Abbey with me!