Abbey and Church
Entrance to the abbey is through a large inner court in the centre of which stands a Baroque Holy Trinity Column, designed by Giovanni Giuliani and completed in 1739.
The façade, as in most Cistercian churches, shows three simple windows as a symbol for the Trinity. Typically Cistercian, the church originally lacked a bell-tower, but one was added during the Baroque era on the north side of the church.
The abbey church of Heiligenkreuz combines two styles of architecture. The façade, naves and the transept (dedicated 1187) are Romanesque, while the choir (13th century) is Gothic. The austere nave is a rare, and famous, example of Romanesque architecture in Austria. The 13th century window paintings in the choir are some of the most beautiful remnants of medieval art.
The chapter house in the cloisters contains the graves of thirteen members of the House of Babenberg, including Duke Frederick the Quarrelsome, the last Babenberger. The remains of Blessed Otto of Freising are kept under the altar of the Blessed Sacrament at the east end of the presbytery.
The Baroness Mary Vetsera, victim of an unsolved murder in nearby Mayerling in which Crown Prince Rudolf von Habsburg died also, is buried in the village cemetery near Heiligenkreuz.
Read more about this topic: Heiligenkreuz Abbey
Famous quotes containing the words abbey and/or church:
“The Abbey always reminds me of that old toast, “Above lofty timbers, the walls around are bare, echoing to our laughter, as though the dead were there.””
—Garrett Fort (1900–1945)
“Say, is there Beauty yet to find?
And Certainty? And Quiet kind?
Deep meadows yet, for to forget
The lies, and truths, and pain? . . . oh!
Stands the Church clock at ten to three?
And is there honey still for tea?”
—Rupert Brooke (1887–1915)