Benedictine Monastery

Benedictine Monastery in Millstatt


This monastery was the spiritual and cultural middle point of Upper Carinthia for centuries. Today it is one of the most important monuments to romanic architecture in the whole of Carinthia.


The monastery museum offers a documentation of the history of Millstatt and its sphere of influence through artworks, copies and archives. Of special interest is a dungeon from the first half of the 16th century with the scratched writings of prisoners. A special section is also dedicated to Geology and Mineralogy.


"Stiftskirche"  - Millstatt Monastery Church
Containing the famous Last Judgement fresco and the Gonzaga chests
The “Fastentuch” (fasting sheet) in the Millstatt monastery church


Carinthia is rich in sacral art treasures attesting to the wealth and the religiousness of its inhabitants in bygone eras. The “Fastentuch” is dated to 1593 and is a special historical and artistic treasure. With over 50 square meters of cloth, it not only covers the entire altar room of the parish church, it is also the largest preserved canvas painting in the alpine area after the Gurker Fastentuch from 1458.
Oswald Kreusel, a painter from St. Veit an der Glan, portrayed 41 biblical scenes on normal, unprimed canvas in watery deck colours.


The colourful illustrated broadsheet captures everything from the creation of the world to the Judgement Day and covers the entire Christian conception of faith. As is usually the case with medieval picture-bibles, the Millstatt canvas is organized like a chessboard. It depicts the coats of arms of those who donated towards it; Baron von Cobenzl and the lord of the parish, Jochner von Aich and Prägrad. These were the people who commissioned this canvas, which was restored in 1997, with the imposing dimensions of around 8,6 by 5,60 metres, specially for the monastery church, Christus Salvator and Allerheiligen, in Millstatt, as a gauche work.


The Fastentuch can be viewed daily in the church from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday.


"1000 jährige Linde"  - 1000 year old lime tree

This landmark symbol in the monastery of Millstatt is a former tree of judgement.