This exuberant, powder-pink Cistercian abbey church is one of Lake Constance's architectural highlights and a popular pilgrimage destination. It was built by the rococo master Peter Thumb of Vorarlberg in 1746. The decor is so intricate and profuse it's overwhelming. At some point your gaze will be drawn to the ceiling, where Gottfried Bernhard Göz worked his fresco magic.
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Basilika Birnau
Lake Constance
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
![SWITZERLAND - JANUARY 01: Library of the monastery St. Gallen, Switzerland. 2000 hand writings, 1635 incunable and almost 100.000 books. The library was built between 1758 and 1767 und richly decorated. (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images) [St. Gallen, Schweiz: Ehemaliges Benediktiner-Kloster. Stiftsbibliothek mit 2000 Handschriften, 1635 Wiegen- und Fruehdrucken (Inkunabeln) und schliesslich 100.000 Buechern, 1758-1767 erbaut und kunstvoll ausgestattet. Stift St. Gallen: 612 Zelle des hl. Gallus, eines Gefaehrten Columbans, 719 wird durch den hl. Otmar das Kloster errichtet, das 747 die Regel Benedikts annimmt, 1805 saekularisiert.]
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Abbeys, Architecture, Books, Interiors, Libraries, Photo tgg06/01](https://lp-cms-production.imgix.net/2023-06/StiftsbibliothekStGallen.jpeg?fit=crop&ar=1%3A1&w=1200&auto=format&q=75)
23.53 MILES
If the greatest masterpieces on earth are wrought for the glory of God, St Gallen’s Stiftsbibliothek (Abbey Library), is like a living prayer. Religious…
28.53 MILES
Ensnared in wispy spray, the thunderous Rheinfall might not give Niagara much competition in height (23m), width (150m) or even flow of water (700 cu…
27.42 MILES
Completed in 1103, Schaffhausen’s cathedral is a rare, largely intact specimen of the Romanesque style in Switzerland. It opens to a beautifully simple…
27.24 MILES
Steps lead up through terraced vineyards to this fine specimen of a 16th-century fortress. The unusual circular battlements were built with forced labour…
13.96 MILES
Near the eastern end of Friedrichshafen’s lake-front promenade is the Zeppelin Museum, housed in the Bauhaus-style former Hafenbahnhof (harbour station),…
6.08 MILES
Crowned by a filigreed spire and looking proudly back on 1000 years of history, the sandstone Münster was the church of the Diocese of Konstanz until 1821…
1.5 MILES
Awarded Unesco World Heritage status in 2011, the Pfahlbauten represent one of 11 prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps. Based on the findings of…
29.77 MILES
Designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, this giant glass and steel cube is said to resemble a lamp, reflecting the changing light of the sky and lake…
Nearby Lake Constance attractions
1.5 MILES
Awarded Unesco World Heritage status in 2011, the Pfahlbauten represent one of 11 prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps. Based on the findings of…
1.61 MILES
No zoo-like cages, no circus antics, just happy Barbary macaques free to roam in a near-natural habitat: that's the concept behind conservation-oriented…
3.04 MILES
This pleasantly green islet has 45 hectares of Mediterranean-style gardens, including rhododendron groves, a butterfly house and a waterfall-strewn…
3.07 MILES
Jutting out over the lake and bursting with flowers, the lusciously green islet of Mainau is a 45-hectare Mediterranean garden dreamed up by the…
3.83 MILES
Founded as a Cistercian monastery in 1134, the immense estate known as Schloss Salem was once the largest and richest of its kind in southern Germany. The…
4.34 MILES
Looking across Lake Constance from its lofty perch, Burg Meersburg is an archetypal medieval stronghold, complete with keep, drawbridge, knights’ hall and…
4.4 MILES
In 1710 Prince-Bishop Johann Franz Schenk von Stauffenberg, perhaps tired of the dinginess and rising damp, swapped the Altes Schloss for the dusky-pink,…
4.4 MILES
Housed in the 400-year-old Heilig-Geist-Spital (Hospice of the Holy Spirit), this new museum presents an intriguing interactive romp through the history…