![]() ![]() Benedict, by which we live, gives us a vision of the monastic life formed by two main elements „ora et labora” (pray and work) the monastic life is a life of common prayer and common work. We Cistercians in Heiligenkreuz see the Liturgy, the solemn worship of God in his Holy Church, as our chief mission. It is an invitation to you: Come and see! As it says on our website Stift Heiligenkreuz is the mystical heart of the Vienna Woods, a harmony of nature and culture, a union of the medieval and the baroque, a symphony of history and spirituality. That means that you can hear the monks singing Gregorian chant here, you can attend Mass, you can pray and you can make confession. Monks live and work here, and we pray the Divine Office every day for the people of the 21st Century. And you can breathe in the incense-scented air in the light-drenched abbey church and marvel at the dancing skeletons in the Chapel of the Dead.īut most of all, Heiligenkreuz is no dusty museum: it is a living and vibrant monastery. You can visit the grave of the man who kidnapped Richard the Lionheart. The monks welcome visitors and guests, and the more than 100,000 tourists who visit the abbey every year! Here you can see all the major architectural styles and artistic movements of the last 900 years. Despite the proximity to cosmopolitan Vienna, the monastery lies in a peaceful and secluded valley in the Vienna Woods, surrounded by gently rolling hills and forests of beech and fir. Stift Heiligenkreuz is only 15 kilometres from the edge of Vienna and easily reachable via highway A21. ![]() It has been a living monastery ever since. ![]() Heiligenkreuz was founded in 1133 by Leopold III, a member of the Babenberg dynasty and a saint. The abbey Stift Heiligenkreuz in the Vienna Woods is known far beyond our local borders. Way of the Cross (1731-50) off the monastery grounds. In the early-Baroque courtyard: Trinity column (1736-39) and Josefsbrunnen fountain by Giuliani (1739). is in the Chapter House.īaroque construction phase of the monastery from 1641, finished in 1662. was the „kidnapper“ of King Richard Lionheart. In the late-Romanesque chapter room, tombs of 4 ruling dukes of the Babenbergs: Leopold IV, Leopold V, Friedrich I and Friedrich II early-gothic dormitory for English people it may be interesting, that Leopold V. Rottmayr (1696), choir stalls (1707) by Giovanni Giuliani nonagonal fountain-house with glass paintings of members of the Babenberg family (1290) and lead fountain from the 16th century. Romanesque nave (vaulted construction) of the collegiate church (consecrated 1187) preserved Romanesque façade, crosssept (from the 13th century with earliest ribbed vault, with massive intersecting ribs, in Austria), impressive hall choir (consecrated 1295, a masterpiece of Austrian Gothic), cloister (1220-1240) re-gothicised in the 19th century neo-gothic high altar (1887), Baroque altar painting by J. ![]()
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