Heiligenkreuz Abbey in Lower Austria is a Cistercian monastery founded in 1133 by Margrave Leopold III, at the request of his son Otto. It began with twelve monks and Abbot Gottschalk from Morimond. The abbey church combines Romanesque and Gothic. Its Romanesque facade has three simple windows that stand for the Trinity, and the choir is a 13th-century Gothic work.
The Baroque rebuilding after the Turkish war of 1683 added a bell tower on the north side. The chapter house holds the graves of thirteen members of the Babenberg family. The abbey received a relic of the True Cross in 1188.
It is an active community, with over 90 monks focused on liturgy and Gregorian chant. Pope Benedict XVI visited in 2007, and a university and seminary are on the grounds.
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