The Melk Abbey terrace

Melk Abbey stands on a spur of rock above the Danube, a Benedictine house rebuilt between 1702 and 1736 into one of the largest baroque complexes in Europe: 320 metres of ochre-and-white front, twin church towers and a dome, visible from the river and the motorway long before you arrive. It marks the western end of the Wachau, so a valley session that starts in Dürnstein usually finishes here.

The frame is the terrace between the towers at the far end of the courtyards, a balustraded platform that projects out over the rock with the town roofs immediately below and the Danube opening east into the valley. Behind it the church front rises straight out of the balustrade; in front there is nothing but air and river, which gives you a rare thing — grand architecture and a landscape in the same shot without stepping back.

The front and the terrace face west and south, so the last two hours put warm light directly onto the ochre and the towers, and midday is flat and hard on that much pale stone. Early morning gives clean light on the north front and an empty courtyard.

The abbey is a ticketed museum with a working school and monastery inside; opening hours, the garden season and the rules on photography in the interiors and on the terrace are the abbey's own, they differ between the church, the library and the outdoor spaces, and they change from year to year — check the current ones and ask at the gate before setting anything up. In winter the complex opens on a reduced timetable and the terrace can be closed for ice, but the courtyards under snow are worth the trip.