2016/05 Europe cruise - Melk Abbey |
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Tuesday May 17th 
The day was cool and breezy but the forecast was for better. We arrived at Melk at breakfast time and could see Melk Abbey towering over the town. We could see why they built high: the inn at the jetty displayed another column of flood markers going up to the second story.
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Buses took us up to the abbey entrance. The location’s history goes back over a thousand years but the Benedictine monks were
given a castle there in 1089 and have occupied it ever since. We began in this courtyard and then went through about a dozen rooms, the imperial apartments, now a museum of the abbey’s history. The museum begins with St Benedict’s rules for the order and describes the development of the abbey over the centuries, but of course most of us were more fascinated by the paintings and the gold and silver and jewels of the crosses, reliquaries, and chalices. The abbey was badly damaged by fire a number of times over the centuries and the current building dates from a baroque reconstruction in the 1700s.
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Melk Abbey |
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We came out into the Marble Hall, a dramatic open area after the congestion of the museum. The ceiling’s fresco appears to extend the building towards the view of heaven. Beyond is the terrace with a giddy view down to the town and the Melk River. 
This led to the library, even more impressive than the hall, but no photos allowed. Our last stop was the church, definitely over the top, perhaps the most ornate interior I’ve ever seen. The picture says it all. It’s a complete contrast to England, where none of the abbeys survived, other than as church buildings. It made us wonder if some of those might have developed similarly to Melk if they hadn’t been plundered by Henry VIII.
We opted to walk back down the hill though the old town of Melk and then rejoined our boat, which set off through the scenic Wachau Valley.