Melk Abbey

Melk has long been a cultural and spiritual center, the center of religious thought in Austria. The abbey stands on a granite rock and overlooks the Danube.
Leopold I, who in 976 as margrave was given the lands of today's southwestern part of Lower Austria, made Melk his residence. His successors adorned the castle with priceless treasures and relics, but in 1089 Margrave Leopold II handed the castle over to the Benedictine monks from Lambach, thus the Benedictine monastery was founded. From that time until now, monks have been living and working here continuously according to the rules of St. Benedict.