Stift Melk is a Benedictine monastery on a promontory above the Danube that has been rebuilt so extensively in the Baroque style (ornate, gold-decorated, 18th-century) that it reads from the river as a palace rather than a religious institution. The library hall holds 100,000 volumes and a frescoed ceiling that Umberto Eco studied before writing The Name of the Rose. The marble hall is theatrically decorated with trompe-l’oeil ceiling perspective. Entry costs around EUR 15 for adults. Melk sits on the Vienna-Salzburg mainline with trains from both directions, and it marks the western gateway of the Wachau Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a flat 35-kilometer cycle path to Krems passing through terraced vineyards, ruined castles, and medieval wine towns. Half a day for the abbey; one overnight if using Melk as a Wachau base.
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Melk
Stift Melk (Melk Abbey) sits on a promontory above a bend in the Danube, and from the river or the bridge below it looks less like a monastery than a palace that decided to contain a church. The library hall, with its frescoed ceiling and 100,000 volumes, is one of the most theatrical Baroque interiors in Austria.