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 | Melk General Tips | Tips 11 - 20 of 65 |  |
Popular General Tips | Miscellaneous General Tips Tips | All Tips (65) In the order of importance of the rooms in a Benedictine monastery, the library comes second only to the church.
The artistic, valuable decoration shows the high regard the monks had for their library.
The library of the Melk abbey consists of a total of twelve rooms containing about 1.888 manuscripts, 750 incunabula (printed works before 1500), 1700 works from the 16th, 4500 from the 17th, and 18.000 from the 18th century; together with the newer books, approximately 100.000 volumes in total. About 16.000 of these are found in this library room. They are organized by topics: beginning with editions of the Bible in row I, theology (rows II to VII), jurisprudence (row VIII), geography and astronomy (row VIIII), history (rows X to XV), and ending with the baroque lexica in row XVI.
(from www.stiftmelk.at) Leave a Comment |
The ceiling fresco by Paul Troger (1731) shows, in the center, Pallas Athena on a chariot drawn by lions as a symbol of wisdom and moderation. Hercules can be seen to her left, symbolizing the force necessary to conquer the three-headed hound of hell, night, and sin. Both Pallas Athena and Hercules allude to Emperor Karl VI, who liked to be celebrated as a successor to the Roman emperors in the Hercules legend. The guest is shown the essence of the House of Habsburg: The ruler brings the people from dark to light, from evil to good.
(from www.stiftmelk.at) Leave a Comment |
The ceiling fresco by Paul Troger (1731/32) shows, in contrast to the secular scenery of the Marble Hall, a symbolic depiction of Faith. In the center a female figure is recognisable; the allegory of Faith. She is surrounded by four groups of angels, who stand for the four Cardinal Virtues: Wisdom, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. Leave a Comment |
The high point of the baroque monastery is the church.
Originally only a Baroquization of the abbey church was planned. However, after 1701, at Abbot Berthold Dietmayr’s instigation, a complete reconstruction of the church took place following plans by Jakob Prandtauer.
The men acquired for the artistic decoration of the church were prominent masters in their fields: Antonio Beduzzi (interior design, sketches for the frescoes), Johann Michael Rottmayr (frescoes, altar paintings), Paul Troger (altar paintings), Giuseppe Galli-Bibiena (designs for the pulpit and high altar), Lorenzo Mattielli (design for the sculptures), and Peter Widerin (sculptures).
The left side altar in the transept contains the skeleton of St. Coloman in a sarcophagus. The altar to the right is dedicated to St. Benedict but the sarcophagus is empty.
The ten year long restoration of the abbey church, financed with help from the state and federal government, was finished in 1987. Leave a Comment |
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The meaning of the Melk Abbey Church can be seen in the inscription on the high altar: “NON CORONABITUR NISI LEGITIME CERTAVERIT” (“Without a legitimate battle there is no victory”) (2 Timothy 2,5). The battle which leads to victory is embodied on the high altar through the martyrdom of the apostles Peter and Paul, and further depicted by that of St. Coloman (Coloman Altar). Leave a Comment |
One of my fondest memories of Melk were the great views of the old town from the balcony of the Stift Melk. In fact, you can see the whole town from here, as well as the Danube River plus surrounding natural landscape and hills.
The balcony area of Stift Melk is located after the museum area and before you enter the impressive library and monastery church areas. Besides views of the old town, the balcony area offers great views of the exterior facade of the Stift Melk. Leave a Comment |
As one travels from Salzburg to Vienna, either by car along the western motorway or by train, one should on no account miss looking out of the window to the left about an hour and a half before reaching the capital. On a precise overlookinh the green meadows beside the Danube stand an abbey and a church, crowned by towers and resplendent in golden ochre. Leave a Comment |
My wife and I managed to spot these huge and colourful flowers along the streets of Melk. During summer time, you will be able to see flowers of all colours, shapes and sizes while in Austria and other parts of Europe :) Leave a Comment |
The beautiful Arcades, is an architectural peculiarity of the Abbey of Melk.
On the way to the museum, one can admire this handsome piece of jewellery. Leave a Comment |
In this "Marble Hall" only the doorframes are made of genuine marble from Adnet and Untersberg (in the province of Salzburg), whereas the walls are of stucco marble. Leave a Comment |
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on March 14, 2003
on March 22, 2008
on July 23, 2003
on February 22, 2006
