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The main attraction of Badgastein is its situation, its streets zigzagging across the hillside and affording a new vista with every turn. Kongressplatz provides a focus of sorts, as the site of the modern Kongresshaus as well as a small museum in Haus Austria across the road (mid-May to Sept daily 10.30-noon & 3.30-6pm; Oct to mid-May Wed 3.30-6pm; öS30/¬2.19). The collection is limited to a few stuffed animals and an uninspiring account of gold-mining in Böckstein. Immediately east of here the street bridges the Gasteiner Ache, a gushing torrent that cuts through the town. On the other side of the Ache, the main street leads northwards past two churches, the oldest and furthest of which is the fourteenth-century Nikolaikirche , where the roof of the short nave is supported by a single pillar. Many of the frescoes, painted in the late fifteenth century - including the image of St Nicholas on the north side of the choir - are badly faded, but look out for the vibrant Day of Judgement in the nave, with the dead rising from their tombs, and sinners being shepherded into hell by club-wielding demons.