Melk Benedictine Abbey (Benediktinerstift Melk)
(http://www.stiftmelk.at/e...) Dietmayerstrasse 1, A-3390 Melk tel. 02752/555232 is the must-see in Melk. The Abbey is built on a bluff overlooking the Danube River to the northwest and the town center to the south. Admission: ⬠7.50 without guided tour; ⬠9.30 with guided tour. Mid-March to November: visits possible daily with or without a guided tour see Do below for English tours; November to mid-March: visits possible only with a guided tour mainly in German. Buy your tickets at the booth on the southern side of the Abbey and enter at the east grand entry. Most of the design of the present abbey a reconstruction started in 1702 was by the architect Jakob Prandtauer. The Kaisergang Imperial Corridor and Abbey Museum, 650 ft long, is decorated with portraits of Austrian rulers. The Marmorsaal Marble Hall, contains pilasters coated in red marble; a richly painted allegorical picture on the ceiling is the work of Paul Troger. The Library, rising two floors, again with a Troger ceiling, contains some 80,000 volumes.
