Salzburg: St. Peterâ€™s Abbey, Cemetery and Thoughts about Dying

Europe is home to a myriad of castles and churches, from fantastic, majestic and grand to easily forgotten ones. Having said that, I personally have seen a LOT of them which is the reason why I am picky these days. The St. Peterâ€™s Abbey in Salzburg though is one of those exemptions because she is just a delight to the eyes.

The entrance to the abbey is somewhat hidden from the main street but even if you do not have a map, and armed with just a curious mind and eye, you will for sure find it. That is how I found the abbey, but I have as well the reputation of meticulously inspecting everything I pass by. OCD =)

I will be coming back here later in the evening for the Mozart classical music concert dinner. The abbey and monastery are located at the foot of the Monschberg which is where I parked the car, so that is a very handy decision because the dinner concert finishes late.

St. Peterâ€™s Abbey
Website: Erzabtei Stift St. Peter

Also known as home of the Monks of Salzburg.

The inner courtyard of the St. Peterâ€™s Abbey and the Benedictine Monastery, one of the oldest founded on 696.

Gilded bronze romanesque details on the door.

In all Romanesque glory. If you read European history, you will realise how the church-religion was entertwined with a deep struggle for politics, power and greed.

Very impressive ceiling.

I am deeply fascinated with the history of christianity and how it evolved through the centuries.

I did not get to visit the old library but if you have the time, do visit this.

The St. Peterâ€™s Abbey is one of the beautiful churches I have ever seen. Very rich in art, history and you can clearly see that the church and the priests before, although I cannot say about the monks, had much power in their hands. They not only lived lavish lifestyles, but in the true essence of decadence… but luckily, the Roman Catholic Church is a very strong organisation that withstood power struggles and the changes of time… from the dark ages to the renaissance period and to the new world.

St. Peterâ€™s Cemetery

At the back of St. Peter’s Abbey you will find the St. Peterâ€™s Chapel, the cemetery and the catacombs. They charge an entrance fee though to get inside the catacombs which I didnâ€™t really do because the cemetery was already attractive enough for me, as well as I could see the catacombs from the outside grounds (although not the tunnels and cave rooms).

The Benedictine Monastery.

The left arch gateway will lead you to the chapel, cemetery and catacombs. Right picture is St. Peterâ€™s Chapel in the middle of the cemetery.

With a view to the Hohensalzburg Fortress on top. The little road to the right leads to the catacombs inside the stone mountain cliff, the Monschberg.

St. Peterâ€™s Chapel in the middle of the cemetery.

Thoughts about Dying

Since we are in the subject of cemeteries and death, have you ever thought about dying? I mean, we all at some point die and wither away into the wind. It is a morbid thought I know and not many people entertain the idea of eventually dying, but that is the stark reality that we will all have to face, someday.

Last weekend, early in the morning while we were in bed, Dutchman and I had a serious discussion about the end of the world, which was inspired from the strange film we saw the other night called Melancholia. I later found out that the director suffered depression and this was his masterpiece that came out during his melancholic period (ergo the name of the movie methinks). Nevertheless, the discussion led to the subject of death. What if we are faced with death and we have a few moments to reflect? Can we truly say that we have lived?

So I turned the question to myself and reflected deeply, and I realised that I can truly say a hundred percent that I have lived my life. It is a very comforting feeling to know that I am living my life according to how I want it to be. The last thing I want to have gripping me on my last breath is regret. No one wants that.

Very pretty, colourful and well-maintained graves. I would not mind getting lost in here in the evening if the graves are pretty like these, but if I was the dead, I would rather be cremated than have my body rot, eaten by maggots and the bones preserved under six feet from the ground. What for?

QUESTION: When you die, do you want to be buried or cremated?

I personally do not want to be buried. What is the reason for me to leave a graveyard footprint in this earth when I am already gone? The earth is already full. I would rather be turned into ash and be thrown into the air where I forever belong.

Sometimes Dutchman and I have really strange and deep discussions and he once said, â€˜If you die ahead of me and your [strong-willed] mother, I am not going to fight with her if she wants your body flown back to the Philippines and let you be buried there.â€™

Now this is one of my horror scenarios because when you are dead, you have no control and influence of the situation. Someone else decides for you. And I simply do not want the whole Filipino-style mourning and burial ritual. It is not my intention to offend majority of the Filipino people who practice this but the last thing I want on earth is being dressed up to the nines with makeup on and placed inside a pimped-up coffin for public viewing consumption.

I think I will need to adjust and put this cremation clause in my Last Will and Testament.