Sunday, May 29, 2011

On the Road: Melk, Austria

While on the 24-mile long picturesque Danube Wachau Valley of Austria - on the way to Melk, we passed the village of Durnstein, home of the castle where Richard the Lionhearted was kept prisoner in 1193.

Doug and I stopped for a break before starting our tour of the Melk Abbey.

The 900-year-old Melk Abbey is situated high atop the granite cliffs of the Danube; the entrance to the massive yellow structure is impressive and beckons tourists to enjoy more splendid Baroque art and architecture inside the complex.

The splendor of the Melk Abbey complex continued with the richly painted allegorical ceiling in the Marble Hall. Our guide pointed out, though, that only the door frames are real marble; most of this large dining hall/ballroom is stucco.

(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

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