Admont

The town of Admont is situated in upper Styria in a basin on the river Enns and at the edge of the Gesäuse National Park opened in 2003. With its rugged peaks of chalk and the Enns breakthrough, the “Gesäuse” forms the north-eastern part of the Ennstal Alps. For hikers this region is a popular tourist destination, especially the Admont Reichenstein Group with the 2251 m high Admont Reichenstein and the 2196 m high Kalbling.

Admont is one of the oldest settlements of Styria and was first mentioned in 859 as “Ademundi vallis”. The town’s landmark, Admont Monastery, was founded in 1074 and is housing the world`s largest monastic library.

In 1865 a fire destroyed numerous houses of the market and a large part of the baroque monastery of Admont. Just the library has been preserved. In the following years the monastery was reconstructed and today`s cathedral is the first big neo-gothic sacral building of Austria.

The town’s sights, apart from the monastery, are the town hall which has remained from the year 1736, the old parish church and the castles of Röthelstein and Kaiserau. Besides, the monastery organises special annual exhibitions and the town offers a lot of cultural and traditional attractions, like the Admont Cultural Summer, the Krampus Chase, the Admont Carnival Parade, or the ARBÖ Rallye Styria.

Source:
www.admont.at
Image source:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stift_Admont_1.jpg