Founded in 1163, it contains an ornate Viennese High Baroque collegiate church and library that date to the 18th century.

[1] Therefore, the abbey was walled in 1458 and many defensive features were built,[2] including towers, a moat and iron bars at the entrance.

With such defenses, the residents of Vorau often sought refuge inside the monastery during time of invasion.

The sacristy is decorated with frescoes by Johann Cyriak Hackhofer [de], the abbey's resident painter, who created them in 1715 and 1716.

[2] It contains 40,000 books, 206 incunabula, and 416 manuscripts,[3] as well as the oldest collection of Middle High German poems.