Seckau Abbey

Seckau was founded in 1140 as an Augustinian house, dissolved by Joseph II, and refounded by Benedictines from Beuron in 1883. The church is a Romanesque basilica of the twelfth century, largely intact in its outline with a Gothic addition and a Renaissance-era mausoleum for Archduke Karl II of Inner Austria attached, which is a piece of late Renaissance sculpture of some quality. The unexpected thing is modern: the Engelkapelle, painted between 1952 and 1960 by Herbert Boeckl, covers the walls with a cycle from the Apocalypse in a hard expressionist manner that sits deliberately against the Romanesque around it and was contentious when it was made. The abbey runs a school and a guest house and the valley around it is quiet upland farming.

What you actually see

• A twelfth-century Romanesque basilica - largely intact in plan and elevation.
• Boeckl's Engelkapelle - a 1950s expressionist Apocalypse cycle on the walls.
• The Karl II mausoleum - late Renaissance sculpture attached to the church.
• A refounded community - Benedictines from Beuron since 1883.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The Engelkapelle has restricted access - check whether it is open. Most of the abbey is a school and enclosure. The valley is remote and public transport is thin.

Nearby

Knittelfeld and the Mur valley are below; the Red Bull Ring is east.