Melk Abbey Church
In the center of the abbey and facing the river is the church. On the south side is the gallery and on the north side is the library. Each is its own separate building but they are all interconnected. The church steeples can be seen for miles up and down the Danube.
On the right side (south) is the Art Gallery. As with any home there is always maintenance required even if it’s only washing windows. But on buildings this size even that requires a scaffold.
On the north side is the library where we continued our tour before moving into the church. Sorry I was not allowed to take any pictures in the library. It is very interesting and you can see some online at their official website.
http://www.stiftmelk.at/englisch/ note special spelling of “englisch”
Below the railing is a courtyard to the church’s front entrance. These first four pictures were taken from the terrace.
Inside the church our eyes are drawn upward towards heaven. Because of the size of the buildings surrounding the church it is surprising to see how large the worship space is.
Looking around at the warm colours of the walls and the gold leaf decoration one gets the feeling that this is definitely a special place.
At the front of the church is an ornate altar. In front of it and below the central dome is a more informal altar and worship space.
Above the altar is a large crown and cross.
To the left of the altar is another wonderful sculpture covered in gold leaf.
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..
If you do not turn around and look above the entrance you might miss the pipe organ.
And while your head is tilted back follow the lines at the top of the wall to the wonderful paintings on the ceiling.
Follow the line of the ceiling across to the central dome.
And on towards the altar at the front of the church.
Now that I have you looking up, where would you like to go today?
