Zollfeld

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View from Karnburg to Maria Saal Zollfeld Blick von Karnburg nach Maria Saal.jpg
View from Karnburg to Maria Saal

Zollfeld (Slovene : Gosposvetsko polje) is a slightly ascending plain in Carinthia, Austria with interspersed small woods, hills, and swamps. [1] It is one of the oldest cultural landscapes in the East Alpine region.

Contents

Geography

It is from 400 m (1,300 ft) to 2 km (1.2 mi) wide and about 18 km (11 mi) long, with an elevation between 450 and 455 m (1,476 and 1,493 ft) above sea level. It is situated in the larger Klagenfurt Basin of the Central Eastern Alps and extends along the Glan River from north of Klagenfurt to Sankt Veit an der Glan.

The plain is confined by surrounded by four prominent peaks of the basin: the Ulrichsberg (1,022 m; 3,353 ft) in the south and the Magdalensberg (1,059 m; 3,474 ft) in the east as well as the Gößeberg (1,171 m; 3,842 ft) and the Lorenziberg in the north (971 m; 3,186 ft). Since about 500 years the mountains are stops on the annual Vierbergelauf procession celebrated on second Friday after Easter.

History

Roman stone relief on the outer wall of the Church of Our Lady in Maria Saal Maria-Saal-Steinrelief-Kutsche.jpg
Roman stone relief on the outer wall of the Church of Our Lady in Maria Saal

The oldest archaeological findings at Magdalensberg originate from the time of Hallstatt culture (8th to 6th centuries BCE). The area was the cultural and political centre of the Celtic kingdom and the later Roman province of Noricum, when under the rule of Emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) the city of Virunum was established as the province's capital, [2] replacing - or maybe identical with - ancient Noreia. Since 2015 archaeological excavations have been carried out in the Roman cemetery in Virunum. [3]

Following the Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps about 600, the Karnburg (Krnski grad) fortress became the center of the Principality of Carantania, which about 740 was vassalized by Duke Odilo of Bavaria. With Bavaria, a part of the Carolingian Empire under Charlemagne from 788 onwards, a Kaiserpfalz at Karnburg was erected about 830. It remained the administrative center after the Duchy of Carinthia had been split off Bavaria in 976.

Inside the castle was a meeting place, where the Prince's Stone, the base of an ancient Roman Ionic column, stood and the Dukes of Carantania were installed. Near Maria Saal stands the Duke's Chair, where the newly installed dukes distributed their land among the vassals.

See also

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Modestus, called the Apostle of Carinthia or Apostle of Carantania, was most probably an Irish monk and the evangeliser of the Carantanians, an Alpine Slavic people settling in the south of present-day Austria and north-eastern Slovenia, who were among the ancestors of present-day Slovenes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virunum</span>

Claudium Virunum was a Roman city in the province of Noricum, on today's Zollfeld in the Austrian State of Carinthia. Virunum may also have been the name of the older Celtic-Roman settlement on the hilltop of Magdalensberg nearby. Virunum (Virunensis) is today a Catholic titular see.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gurktal Alps</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">City on the Magdalensberg</span> Noric settlement in Carinthia, Austria

The Stadt auf dem Magdalensberg, is a Noric settlement inhabited from the 1st century BC to the mid 1st century AD, located on the slopes and summit plateau of Magdalensberg on the edge of the Carinthian Zollfeld. It was an important trading hub before and during the initial phase of Roman occupation, particularly for Noric iron. However, with the establishment of the Roman city of Virunum on the Zollfeld, the settlement was ultimately abandoned, with a documented duration spanning approximately 90 years. Notably, one of the most significant discoveries from this site is the Youth of Magdalensberg.

References

  1. "Zollfeld". Austria-Forum. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  2. Stillwell, Richard; et al. (eds.). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites . Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  3. "ZOLLFELD: NECROPOLIS OF VIRUNUM". Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Retrieved February 11, 2024.

46°43′20″N14°22′11″E / 46.72222°N 14.36972°E / 46.72222; 14.36972