Melk (older spelling: Mölk) is a city of Austria, in the federal state of Lower Austria, next to the Wachau valley along the Danube. With a population of 5,222 (as of 2001), it is also the site of a massive baroque Benedictine monastery named Stift Melk. Just outside the city limits is a renaissance castle named Schallaburg. Melk received market rights in 1227 and became a municipality in 1898. In a very small area Melk presents a great deal of architectural variety from many centuries.
