Cistercian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz — Attraction in Gemeinde Heiligenkreuz

The Cistercian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz is a very important historical and spiritual establishment. This Abbey happens to be the second-oldest Cistercian monastery in the world. Founded in the eleventh century, it holds a history of almost nine centuries. Located next to the Vienna woods, this place is just extraordinarily beautiful and at the same time very serene. The kreuz kirche within the Abbey is graced with a relic of the Cross that Christ was crucified. There is a Celebration of the Holy Eucharist every day. It is really nice that this is still an active Abbey. There is enough space for parking and also a bus stop is available. For those hungry, you can also try a variety of food in the restaurant attached to the Abbey. You will find a lot of monuments and art pieces built by a lot of popular and renowned artists of Europe. Fur this interested in either history or spirituality or both, this is a really good option. Or it is always better you say,...

If you take the tour you will get a quite good audio guide. The tour shows you very beautiful rooms that you normally can't see in an abbey. It's great how open the monks are here. Even better if you plan ahead you can listen for free to their sung masses and special sung liturgies. We were lucky to attend on a Wednesday 6pm for a special "vesper" liturgy, where everything was sung, even the word which are normally spoken. Im not a Christian, but I can recognize beauty and peace and the singing was really very beautiful to behold and very spiritual. Another tip: if you like feeding animals, bring some 1 Euro coins and go up the stations of the cross (Kreuzweg/Kalvarienberg). On top you find a good dispenser and a bell. Ring it and some very friendly goats and donkeys will come to you and you can feed them...

Went on a detour from Vienna on December, 20th. Initially we were worried about group visits only and at fixed times; on top of that ended up a few minutes late. Regardless, we were offered a tour without a hitch and it was literally just for four of us. Some might argue there's not that much to see but I say a hour-long tour and a little stroll around were ABSOLUTELY worth it. It is a beautiful place (likely even more so in summer), with rich history and peaceful yet very moving appearance.

Extra info which may be useful for tourists: Restaurant on the site is also good so you may plan around having a meal there and I believe you may even stay there as a guest - if you have a car and had your share of Vienna sightseeing that's an option. We took an Uber from/to hotel in Vienna, it's a half...