The basilica St. Michael is the cultural and spiritual heart of the Mondsee region.


This gothic former monastery is just as striking today as ever. Its two towers stretch 52m into the sky. This late gothic church was constructed in the 15th century under the direction of abbot Benedikt Eck and is the second biggest church in Upper Austria. Saint Wolfgang spent a year in Mondsee in 976 as Bishop of Ratisbon and founded the pilgim church at the Wolfgangsee lake.

The basilica Mondsee reached international fame because the wedding scene in the movie "Sound of Music" with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer was filmed inside. This is the reason why more than 200.000 people are visiting the church every year and therefore is one of the most photographed churches all over the world. Pope John Paul II upgraded the church to a basilica in 2005. In 2009 the church was reopened after a huge restauration which ended in the titel "Austria's monument of the year".