Stams Abbey

Stams was founded in 1273 by Elisabeth of Bavaria, mother of Conradin, the last Hohenstaufen, who had been executed in Naples in 1268 - the abbey was in part a memorial to him. It became the burial church of the Tyrolean sovereigns, and the princes' crypt holds a large number of them. The medieval church was rebuilt in baroque form in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with twin onion towers that are the landmark from the valley. Its most unusual object is the Rosengitter, a wrought-iron rose grille of 1716 closing the crypt chapel, an openwork screen of stems and blooms of exceptional smithing. The abbey runs a ski grammar school that has produced a long list of Austrian racers, so the complex is busy with athletes as well as monks.

What you actually see

• The princes' crypt - the burial place of Tyrolean sovereigns.
• The 1716 rose grille - a wrought-iron screen of stems and blooms closing the chapel.
• Twin onion towers - the baroque rebuilding, the landmark of the valley.
• A ski grammar school - the abbey's academy for Austrian racers.

When to go

April to October; guided tours at set times. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Access is by guided tour, mainly in German, at published times. It is a working abbey and school with closed areas. Winter opening is very limited.

Nearby

Telfs and the Mieming plateau are east; Imst and the Ötztal are west.