Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
AROUND LINZ
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St Florian
07224 / POP 5990
Unassuming St Florian, a market town 18km southeast of Linz, hides one of Austria's
finest Augustinian abbeys. Supposedly buried under the abbey, St Florian was a Roman
officer who converted to Christianity and was subsequently tortured and drowned in the
Enns River in the year 304 for his pains. In many Austrian churches, the patron saint of
fire-fighters and of Upper Austria is depicted as a Roman warrior dousing flames with a
bucket of water.
Sights
Augustiner Chorherrenstift
(
www.stift-st-florian.at
;
Stiftstrasse 1; tours adult/child €7.50/5; 11am, 1pm & 3pm May-Sep)
Rising like a
vision above St Florian, this abbey dates at least to 819 and has been occupied by the Can-
ons Regular, living under Augustinian rule, since 1071. Today its imposing yellow-and-
white facade is overwhelmingly baroque.
You can only visit the abbey's interior by guided tour, which takes in the resplendent
apartments adorned with rich stuccowork and frescoes. They include 16 emperors' rooms
(once occupied by visiting popes and royalty) and a galleried library housing 150,000
volumes. The opulent
Marble Hall
pays homage to Prince Eugene of Savoy, a Frenchman
who frequently led the Habsburg army to victory over the Turks. Prince Eugene's Room
contains an amusing bed featuring carved Turks, which gives a whole new meaning to the
idea of sleeping with the enemy!
A high point of the tour is the
Altdorfer Gallery
, displaying 14 paintings by Albrecht Alt-
dorfer (1480-1538) of the Danube School. The sombre and dramatic scenes of Christ and
St Sebastian reveal a skilful use of chiaroscuro. Altdorfer cleverly tapped into contempor-
ary issues to depict his biblical scenes (for example, one of Christ's tormentors is clearly a
Turk).
ABBEY
