The largest place on the Millstätter See is Millstatt (604m/1,982ft; pop. 1,300), on a site on the northern bank which was occupied in Roman times.
Millstatt is noted as a traditional health resort and spa town, with its former Benedictine abbey, founded about 1070. The extensive buildings of the abbey include four massive Renaissance towers.
Of interest in Millstatt is the former Benedictine abbey founded in 1070 and in particular its Romanesque church, a three aisled pillared basilica with a recessed doorway (c. 1170) and two high towers. In the porch can be seen a beautiful Romanesque funnel shaped doorway. The choir and vaulting are Gothic, the altars Baroque. The fresco of the Last Judgment by Urban Görtschacher (1513-19) is one of the masterpieces of Austrian Renaissance art.
The Millstatt Abbey Museum documents the history of Millstatt by means of works of art and other items. The geological-mineralogical department shows how the Carinthian uplands were formed as well as explaining how the minerals and ores came to be there.
There are rewarding walks and climbs, north of Millstatt, to the Millstätter Alpe (2,091m/6,861ft), the Tschiernock (2,088m/6,851ft) and the rolling country around it (see Gmünd, Surroundings).
The Millstatt Music Weeks are essentially three annual festivals. The first is a spring festival which runs from May to June. The second festival takes place in summer, in the months of July and August, and the third is the Autumn Festival which takes place in September. During these months, the town organizes various concerts by famous symphonies, and choral and chamber orchestras. All the events take place in the Benedictine abbey.
Address: Internationalen Musikwochen, Stiftsgebäude, A-9872 Millstatt, Austria
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