From this:
To this...
It totally dominates the skyline of the tiny town, population 900, about 60 kms west from Vienna (Wien to the locals). And no wonder - with 500 rooms, more than 1400 windows, and boasting a church dome peaking at 64 metres tall (you can see the church fully enclosed by the later buildings, towards the left in this shot above) ... today, it is still home to a small community of Benedictines, as well as a private school for 900 students. The abbey controls more than 5000 hectares of farming, forestry and winegrape growing lands, and hosts half a million visitors a year. So that's how they've funded the amazing restoration of this incredible Baroque-era work of art...
The Marble Hall, below, was once used only by the visiting Hapsburg Royalty, complete wtih frescoed ceiling, featuring an optical illusion built in to make the ceiling appear higher than it is (yes, really!). The entire south wing (left hand side of the pic above, and more than 150 metres long) was set aside for their use. The Empress Marie Therese never visited with less than 300 attendants in her retinue...
This is the largest of 12 rooms in the library, which houses more than 100,000 books in total, 1500 of them predating the invention of the printing press. With permission from the abbott, any bona fide student can seek permission to search the collection (I wonder if he would notice I don't really speak German). The oldest known book in Austria, more than 1000 years old, lives here... I'm in heaven...
The church was, for centuries, open only to the Monks. The entire ceiling is covered in frescoes, and the dozen or so side altars are all as slathered in gold leaf as the main pulpit, below. A recent restoration in here required 4kgs of the stuff!!! Nowadays, services are open to the public every Sunday, complete with 3,500 pipe organ. Apparently, this gorgeousness was supposed to bring you closer to God by creating a little heaven on earth... I don't know if it worked, but it sure is stunning...
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