St. Meinrad, which was designated an arch-abbey by Pope Pius XII in 1953, was established in 1854.

At first the monks lived in a simple, two-room log cabin on 160 acres. But over time, as the abbey gained in prestige and respect, it grew, and the campus now covers 2,500 acres soaring above the town of St. Meinrad. The main building of the arch-abbey is comprised of the school and rooms where the students eat, sleep and study and is connected to the Romanesque-style Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln.
The church, with 168-foot-high twin bell towers, church organ with almost 4000 pipes and marble steps that lead to the magnificent entryway and on into the vaulted-ceiling cathedral, was finished in 1907.

Visitors get to see a myriad of art-filled rooms which range from the large Chapter Room with hand-painted ceilings of scenes from the Book of Daniel to the smaller Blessed Chapel Room, an almost secret place behind the organ pipes that is filled with such treasures as gold-filigreed lanterns and an ornate gold-and-bejeweled tabernacle.