Although Mauthausen left us thoroughly shaken, we were smacked in the face by beauty and splendor very soon at Saint Florian’s Priory.
The priory features a stunning library that is so reminiscent of the library from “Beauty and the Beast” that I couldn’t help but wonder if this was its inspiration. None of the photos I took capture the grandeur of this library; everyone gasped audibly when they walked in, it was that breathtaking. The ceiling featured an amazing fresco of the sciences and virtues in the heavens.
This is the Bruckner organ, named for Anton Bruckner. We also saw Bruckner’s tomb below the priory; it was flanked by six thousand real human skulls. We stayed for an organ concert played on this very organ. I always thought organs were kind of kooky-sounding, as I’ve only ever heard lower-rate organs and recordings, but the mighty sound reverberating through the cathedral was awesome in the original sense of the word. 
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