Vorau brings together abbey history, literature, museums and routes through forests and across meadows. When planning your trip, you can first choose between focusing on culture or on the routes. Within the cultural offerings, the abbey interiors, literary trail and museums each have a different focus. Which perspective suits your stay depends on whether you want to focus on historic interiors, literary content, traditional rural home culture or a particular route.
Abbey history and a look inside
Vorau Abbey was founded in 1163. However, the present-day abbey complex was built much later, in the 17th and 18th centuries. This distinction in timing helps separate the abbey’s long history from the building history of the complex as it stands today. Guided tours show visitors the church, sacristy and library. If you plan to visit these interiors, check the current tour schedule in advance.
Literary trail and museums
The Vorau Literary Trail links the abbey with the market town of Vorau in six stops. It recounts the “Vorau Novella” and is illustrated with images from medieval manuscripts. Both a literary story and visual references take centre stage here. For travellers interested in literature as well as architectural history, the trail offers a distinctive way to experience Vorau.
The Vorau Open-Air Museum includes the “Marotti” Rauchstubenhaus, dating from 1706. This typical Eastern Styrian farmhouse is presented there with its complete furnishings. The focus is therefore on a historic home and its furnishings. The Sub Terra Vorau Museum, by contrast, is located in the Waldlturm within the abbey grounds. The two offerings can be distinguished by their settings: the Rauchstubenhaus in the open-air museum, and a museum within the abbey grounds.
Two different kinds of routes
The Augustiniweg runs from Vorau Abbey, home to the Canons Regular, via Schafleitn and Amtmann Höhe to Masenberg. Its route is defined by the sequence of named points and its destination. The Dörflweg follows short stretches of road, passes through forests and across meadows to viewpoints, then returns to Griesplatz in the centre of Vorau.
The route descriptions emphasise different aspects: the Augustiniweg focuses on the route via the named waypoints and Masenberg as its destination. The Dörflweg description includes changing stretches through woodland and meadows, viewpoints and the return to Griesplatz. When choosing a route, you can therefore start by deciding which of these route profiles best matches your interests.
Eastern Styrian cuisine as an added bonus
Eastern Styrian cuisine includes Brettljause, a platter of cold cuts and other snacks available at Most and Buschenschank taverns. It adds a regional food dimension to the cultural and scenic themes. To decide whether Vorau suits your trip, you can weigh up the options: abbey history and interiors, literary stops, museums, the routes described here or a broader look at Eastern Styrian cuisine can each shape your stay in a different way.
Discover more destinations: Stubenberg, Ebersdorf Bei Hartberg, FĂĽrstenfeld, Sankt Stefan, Grafendorf Bei Hartberg, Maierhofbergen, Wenigzell, Altenmarkt Bei FĂĽrstenfeld.
For the regional travel overview: Hartberg-FĂĽrstenfeld.
