Deutsche Version
The town of Zwettl and Zwettl Abbey celebrate with their partners
On a guided hike, participants get to know lots of interesting facts about the Zwettl monastery landscape as a European cultural heritage site.
The Cistercians shaped the European cultural landscape like no other order of the Middle Ages. Using the highest level of knowledge of their time, they created new types of landscape and spread them throughout Europe. This can still be recognised today in many places in the monastery landscapes. The area around Zwettl Abbey is a prime example of a Cistercian monastic landscape and, together with 16 partner sites, was awarded the European Heritage Label in 2024.
On the trail of the Cistercians through Europe
The international project ‘Cisterscapes connecting Europe’ set out in search of traces and makes this cultural heritage visible with the ‘Cistercian Way’, among other things. This is a cultural trail over 6,000 kilometres long that leads through six European countries. The trail is centred on Cîteaux in Burgundy, the cradle of the Cistercian order, where all abbots met for the annual general chapter.
Grand opening of the Zwettl section of the Cistercian Way
On October 5th 2024 at 10 am, the section around Zwettl Abbey will be officially opened. All Cisterscapes partners, cooperation partners from Interreg projects, sponsors, supporters and the interested public are invited to this celebration. After a short pilgrimage blessing in the abbey church and a small ceremony in the Lindenhof, archivists Elisabeth Moll and Andreas Gamerith will accompany the hikers through the impressive cultural landscape of Zwettl and tell episodes from the fascinating European cultural history.
Celebration of 100 years of the Bildungshaus
The Bildungshaus also has reason to celebrate, as it has been in existence for 100 years, and is therefore providing impetus on October 4th on the topics of natural landscape, cultural landscape and sacred landscape. At 2 pm, interested people can take part in a guided tour of the abbey by cultural mediator Elisabeth Moll. This will be followed by an enquete at 4 pm, at which Dr Iris Haslinger, Elisabeth Moll, MBA, and herbalist Benedikt Felsinger from Geras Abbey will hold speeches on the topic of ‘Landscape: Created - Shaped - Believed’. The programme will be rounded off with a pontifical mass in the church followed by an aperitif.
All programme items can be chosen individually. Please register at E-Mail senden or call +43 2822 20202 25. The registration deadline is October 1st.
Programme (programme items can be selected individually)
October 4th
2:00 pm: Guided tour of the abbey, meeting point in the abbey courtyard
4:00 pm: Enquete ‘Natural landscape, cultural landscape, sacred landscape’ in the festival hall
6:00 pm: Festive mass in the church followed by an aperitif in the foyer of the festival hall
October 5th
10:00 am: Pilgrims' blessing in the church
10:20 am: Opening of the Cisterscapes long-distance hiking trail ‘Way of the Cistercians’, meeting point at the Court of lime trees followed by a guided hike through the abbey landscape (length approx. 3.4 km or barrier-free approx. 1 km) with refreshment point
