Date

Tuesday 8th October 2019

Holy Places Visited

  • Stift Dürnstein [“Dürnstein Abbey”], Dürnstein
  • Site of Ehemalige Clarissinen Kirche [“Former Clarissines Church”], Dürnstein (exterior)

Distance Travelled

Approximately 6½ km (4 miles) by boat and approximately 5 km (3 miles) on foot.

Route

On another surprisingly warm, sunny day in October, I visited Stift Dürnstein [“Dürnstein Abbey”], where a guide called Bernadette kindly explained many things to me. The Abbey used to be the home of many monks but now only the Church and Museum are in regular use.

The distinctive blue Tower of the Abbey Church was built in 1733 and features seven depictions of the Passion of Christ along with sculptures of the Four Evangelists, Twelve Apostles and the four Patron Saints of the Abbey (Saints Mary, John of Nepomuk, Augustine and Nicholas).

Afterwards, I walked around the village, visiting the site of a former church, before taking another boat trip further downstream to Krems an der Donau [“Krems on the Danube”].

The equivalent carbon emissions from the boat trip have been offset.