Danube Cruise Blog #37: Gottweig Abbey's Attic, Ancient Tiles

steel support structure holding up the fresco over the monumental stair.

In this final blog Danube Cruise Blog about Krems, Austria's Gottweig Abbey, we'll climb into the attic and tell you about the architecture (well, because Tom is an architect). We'll tell you about the funny situation with the guide, Fresco support, show you ancient tiles and tell you what a Terracotta roof means.   Read on!


FUNNY - After the tour guide finished giving the general tour of about 40 people, he asked (reluctantly) if anyone had purchased tickets for the attic tour. Of course, we did, and we convinced our friends Mary Margaret and Don to accompany us, so there were 4 of us. I could almost sense a heavy sigh from the tour guide..

FRESCO SUPPORT - In a previous blog we showed you the giant Fresco over a grand stair case. Well, in the attic we saw the steel support structure holding up that fresco ! It was really long and impressive.

>terracotta roof tiles
IN THE ATTIC - There was a narrow set of wooden planks that allowed people to walk the periphery of the attic, so we did. The number of beams in that attic holding up the ceiling below and keeping the roof on, was amazing.

UNESCO Steel beams

UNESCO COMMISSIONED STEEL - When the Abbey became a UNESCO world site, the organization paid for steel beams to better support the 300 year old (rebuilt) abbey attic.

ANCIENT TILES - Terracotta can last a long time on a roof. In the attic, there was  an easel displaing the original 300 year old terra cotta roof tiles!

A view from the attic

WHAT ARE TERRACOTTA ROOF TILES? - Terracotta, which literally means 'baked earth' in Italian, is a type of clay-based ceramic which is used to create roof tiles. Tiles made from terracotta are a very commonly used roofing material in Australia and around the world, and they've been widely used on roofs for a very long time.;

NEXT: AN AUSTRIAN MEAL TO REMEMBER