World’s Largest Monastery Library Restored To Baroque Splendour
“Hidden in the Austrian Alps some 250 kilometres (155 miles) southwest of Vienna, Admont’s Benedictine monastery, which was founded in 1074 and spreads over 270 square kilometres (66,720 acres), has always striven for opulence.
“During expansion work in the 18th century, the monastery wanted to compete with El Escorial,” the sumptuous monastery founded by King Philip II near Madrid in the 16th century, says Gudrun Pacher, spokeswoman for the Admont monastery.”