Schallaburg

Why go

This record is the castle and its exhibitions; it lies in Schollach, not in the town of Melk. The castle's own history page says its history began about 1,000 years ago with a residential castle of the counts of Schala, that Hans Wilhelm von Losenstein expanded it into a Renaissance palace with a garden in the second half of the 16th century, and that its two-storey arcaded courtyard holds 1,600 terracotta figures. It says the complex passed to the Republic of Austria with the State Treaty of 1955, was sold to the province of Lower Austria in 1967 and renovated from 1968 to 1974, the year of its first Renaissance exhibition. The castle's FAQ says photography is not permitted in the exhibition rooms but is welcome elsewhere, that travelling bags and rucksacks must be left at the cloakroom and that dogs are not permitted anywhere in the grounds.