★★★★★ 5.0
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Klosterneuburg Monastery
Fifty-one copper enamel tiles line the Leopold Chapel, each completed between 1171 and 1181 by master goldsmith Nicholas of Verdun—until a catastrophic fire in 1330 forced the monks to transform this pulpit decoration into an altar. Look upward at the two Baroque domes crowning the roofline above Stiftsplatz; Emperor Charles VI originally planned nine towers inspired by Spain's El Escorial, but only two were ever finished. Margrave Leopold III founded this fortress-monastery in 1114, and Augustinian canons have inhabited it continuously for nearly 900 years through Ottoman sieges and Nazi occupation.
Did You Know?
- :Klosterneuburg Monastery was founded in 1114 by Margrave Leopold III after a legendary event: his wife Agnes’s bridal veil was blown away by the wind and later found miraculously intact on an elderberry bush, inspiring Leopold to build the monastery on that very spot—a tale that’s still told to visitors today.
- The monastery houses the Verdun Altar, a masterpiece of medieval goldsmithing created by Nicholas of Verdun around 1181, which features intricate enamel panels depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments and is considered one of the most important works of its kind in Europe.
- Klosterneuburg Monastery is home to the Austrian Archducal Coronet, a symbol of the Archduchy of Austria made in the early 1600s, which traditionally only leaves the monastery for the inauguration of a new Archduke—the last time being in 1835, making it a rare and treasured relic of Austrian monarchy.