Some 34km/21mi southwest of Vienna, not far from Mödling on the edge of the Vienna Forest (Wiener Wald), lies the little town of Heiligenkreuz ("Holy Cross"), with Austria's second oldest Cistercian abbey. It takes its name from the relic of the True Cross which was presented to the monks by an Austrian duke. The abbey was founded in 1133, under the influence of French Cistercian monks. The church itself dates from the 12th and 13th C. The last of the Babenbergers died in 1246 and, in common with many others of the line, was buried in Heiligenkreuz. The convent buildings were reconstructed in the 17th and 18th C., when a new courtyard with two story arcades and a gatehouse tower were added.

"Stift Heiligenkreuz", which means the "Abbey of Heiligenkreuz", is a beautiful and living Cistercian monastery, close to Vienna, the capital of Austria. Stift Heiligenkreuz is the second-oldest Cistercian monastery in the world and the oldest continuously active and inhabited one, now full of young vocations. In September 2007 it was blessed by an official visit by Pope Benedict XVI.

Stift Heiligenkreuz, peacefully situated in the middle of the "Wienerwald", the Vienna woods, is one of the most beautiful medieval monasteries in the world. It was founded in 1133 by St. Leopold III of the House of Babenberg. Leopold’s son, Otto, had been sent to Paris for an international education. Otto came in contact with Cistercian monks and soon decided to enter a Cistercian monastery. When Otto visited his father in Austria he asked him to build a similar monastery for Lower Austria. This was the reason St. Leopold built Heiligenkreuz as well as Klosterneuburg to the northwest of Vienna.

Currently the monastery has 77 members, 18 affiliated parishes and a Pontifical Theological Academy (founded 1802) with around 180 students.