Melk Abbey to the Austrian Alps

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

 

Last night’s rain had cleared before we rose this morning and after breakfast we drove right through central Vienna and then out to the beautiful Austrian countryside.  Our morning destination was Melk, where the Benedictine Abbey is built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the small town and the Danube.  The Abbey began life as a secular complex, meant as a border defense, in the 10^th century.  Within 100 years, the borders had moved and the monarch donated the site to the Benedictines; the current Baroque Abbey dates from the late 18^th century.  It is still an active monastery and school, with and enrollment of over 900 middle and high school coed students. We joined a small group for an English language tour covering a timeline of the Abbey’s history through a series chronologically-sequenced exhibit rooms. 

 

Beyond the historical displays, the Abbey’s most impressive and important rooms are the Marble Room, with its trompe l'oeil ceiling fresco; the library, which occupies six rooms of medieval volumes and manuscripts; and the church, which out-Baroques anything we’ve ever seen --the golden embellishments warranted wearing sunglasses!  Unfortunately, no photography was permitted in the Abbey’s interior (a restriction Tom actually obeyed!), but you can click on these links for an online peek of the library and the church.  We arrived in the church just before noon, so we stayed for the monks’ midday prayers – in German, of course.  Sometimes, I yearn for the old days of liturgical Latin – but not often.

 

The Abbey has an extensive series of lovely gardens, occupying several levels on a hillside.  Before leaving, we enjoyed them and the panoramic views of the town and river below and the countryside beyond on this lovely day.

 

Our base for three nights is Gosau, about three hours southwest of Vienna and a world away.  We are in a very rural area, with views of the Alps from our wrap-around balcony, and near a series of beautiful lakes.  Neither our GPS nor Google Maps could find our destination, so we were fortunate that the TI in tiny Gosau was still open when we arrived.  A lovely young woman there provided maps and detailed directions, and explained that street names and numbers had recently changed; after that, finding our way was a snap!   

 

The setting is gorgeous and we’re looking forward to exploring the area during the next couple of days.