Villach Things to Do

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The church of the holy cross was built from 1726. The benediction of the church was in 1744 and the inauguration in 1751. The church is built in baroque style.

Until the end of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy the church was very popular with pilgrims and later for weddings. Since WW2 it is one of the parish churches of Villach.

The church is situated in the Perau part of town which used to be an independent village once upon a time. Today it's still walking distance from the old town.

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The Nikolai church is situated between the railway station and the old town.

The church is in neo-gothic style and dates back to 1896. The Nikolai church is a monastery and parish church looked after by the Franciscans.

You will also find the statue of Franz of Assisi on the Nikolai square.

The tourist office is conveniently located on the way from the railway station to the old town just before the bridge over the Drau river.

I ended up before the closed doors just one or two minutes after 5 pm. There was still a lady inside that left through the side door but she asked me if I needed something. I asked for a city map and she went back in and brought me a good map and a broschure about an old town walk. This was absolutely lovely of her!

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The Castle of which you get an excellent unobstructed view from the train if you travel from Villach to Ljubljana (just when you cross the Drau river and sit on the left) used to be the seat of the Bamberg administration.

Villach was under Bamberg rule for 752 years until 1759 when the Empress Maria Theresia bought it back.

There is a castle chapel by the name of St. Heinrich and Kunigunde. I didn't see any entrance to it though.

Enter the castle courtyard where you will find an stone through and a well. In the back corner to your right you will find a tiny museum room which will show you some of the findings of the castle. It's free of charge (please close the door).

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The Stadtpfarrturm or steeple is the highest one in the state of Carinthia with 94 meters. I climbed the about 240 steps and was rewarded with a spectacular view. The wooden stairs are quite comfortable except for 39 steps on the so called “Schneckenstiege” which means snail staircase. These 39 steps are extremely narrow and hard to climb with a daypack on your back. There is even a traffic light for that section which turns to green every 4 minutes.

When I visited in off season I was the only one there which was just fabulous. Watch out for the rining of the bells. Even two floors down I winced at the half hour banging. It says on a warning sign not to be near the bells at 12 noon! Do take that seriously please!

On each floor there are explanations of the Jakobsweg, the famous pilgrims path which also passes through Carinthia.

The current steeple dates back to 1847. In summer there are also falcons breeding in the tower. I just saw the empty floor. Another interesting fact is that until World War 2 there was a "Tuermer", a tower warden living up there (see kitchen photo).

The entrance fee was Euro 2.00 and the tower is open as follows:
May, June, September, October from Monday till Saturday from 10.00 till 16.30
July and August from Monday till Saturday from 10.00 till 18.00

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Here in this building you may see the state of Carinthia (Bundesland Kaernten) as a relief on 182 m2. It is three dimensional at a scale of 1:10’000. The length is 19,5 meters and the width 9,3 meters.

The relief was made of concrete from 1891 until 1913 and the present building dates back to 1912.

For me the mountains and valleys were not that interesting, I enjoyed more viewing the old postcards of various towns and villages on the walls.

This small museum is open every year from 2nd May till 31st October and the entry fee was Euro 2.00.

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St Jacobs tower is in Villach centre, the church is from the 14 th century, the tower is 95m high and stands seperate from the church.. A charge of 2 euro and you get a good view at the top. The wooden stairs are easy to climb, but the last 30 or so are single file.

This relief of Carinthia reproduces the region on a 1:10 000 scale.
Its surface is 183 square metres, and although it is 90 years old it is still the largest relief in Europe.
A map is enough to identify the shape of a lake, but mountains are a different matter. A relief like this is very good way to get familiar with the profiles of the mountains and learn their names.