Page 214 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Austria

212  A USTRIA REGION B Y REGION

period (800–400 BC) was
named the Hallstatt civili zation.
Its influence reached far into
France, the Slav countries
and Hungary.
Today, Hallstatt treasures
can be seen in many Austrian
museums, with the bulk of them
held at Schloss Eggenberg,
near Graz (see p166). The few
finds that stayed in Hallstatt
are kept in the World Heritage
Museum. The entire Hallstatt
Bronze-Age finds in Hallstatt’s World Heritage Museum region has been declared
a World Heritage Site
g Hallstatt centre is flanked by the saints by UNESCO.
Road map D4. * 800. @ £ 4 Barbara, patron of miners,
n Seestrasse 99 (06134) 8208. and Catherine, revered by E Salzwelten Hallstatt
∑ hallstatt.net woodcutters. Depicted on Lahnstrasse 21. Tel (06132) 200
the inner wings are scenes 2400. Open late Apr–mid­Sep:
The village of Hallstatt is one from the lives of Mary and 9:30am– 4:30pm daily; mid­Sep–
of the loveliest tourist destina­ Jesus. The altar is guarded Oct: 9:30am–3pm daily. & = -
tions in the Salzkammergut. by the statues of two knightly ∑ salzwelten.at
The steep drop of the Dachstein saints, George and Florian. E World Heritage Museum
massif provides a scenic backdrop In the cemetery surrounding Seestrasse 56. Tel (06134) 828015.
for the town and adjacent the church stands the Beinhaus, Open Nov–Mar: 11am–3pm Wed–
Hallstätter See. The houses are a chapel that serves as a store­ Sun; Apr, Oct: 10am–4pm daily; May–
clustered together so tightly house for some very bizarre Sep: 10am–6pm daily. & =
that many are acces sible only objects. This former mortuary ∑ museum-hallstatt.at
from the lakeside, while the old now holds some 1,200 human
street runs above the rooftops. skulls, painted with floral designs
Even the local Corpus Christi and in many cases inscribed h Gosauseen
procession is held on the lake, with the name, date and cause Road map D4. @
in festive, decorated boats. of death of the deceased. n Gosau, (06136) 8295.
Rising above the village on a Short age of space in the
rocky headland is the pagoda­ graveyard meant that some ten For pure, natural, unspoilt
like roof of the Pfarrkirche. years after a funeral, when a beauty, this area has few rivals.
Its stepped dome dates from body had decomposed, the The Gosauseen are three small
a later period, but the church remains were moved to the mountain lakes – Vorderer
was built in the 15th century chapel to make room for the Gosausee, Gosaulacke and
and to this day contains many next coffin to be buried, resulting Hinterer Gosausee. They lie
original features, including a in this unusual depository. one after the other, surrounded
carved wooden altarpiece of A short distance below the by forest and limestone rocks,
the Virgin Mary, sometimes Catholic Pfarrkirche stands a and intercut with deep gorges.
compared to Pacher’s altar in Neo­Gothic Protestant church, Vorderer Gosausee lies at an
St Wolfgang (see p209). The with a slender steeple. altitude of 933 m (3,061 ft).
figure of the Madonna at its Directly at a height of 500 m An undemanding walk
(1,640 ft) above the town is around the lake will reward
Salzwelten Hallstatt, one of the you with superb views of the
oldest known salt mines in the surrounding mountains and
world, which can be reached by over the Dachstein range,
cable car. Salt was mined here as with its many glaciers.
early as 3,000 BC and then The most picturesque
transported to the Baltic Sea mountain, with zigzag peaks
and the Mediterranean. and a sheer drop, is Gosaukamm
In 1846, a large cemetery (2,459 m/8,068 ft). This is the
yielding some 2,000 graves was easternmost part of the
uncovered in Hallstatt. Rich bur­ Alps where the snow stays on
ial objects dated mainly from the ground all year round.
the Iron Age but some dated The road to Hinterer Gosausee
even further back, to the Bronze climbs steeply among thick
Age. The Hallstatt finds proved forest. From this lake, 1,154 m
Painted skulls in the Beinhaus chapel of so important archae ologically (3,786 ft) high, you can climb
Hallstatt’s Pfarrkirche that the Celtic culture of that some of the adjacent peaks.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp296–7 and pp320–21

212-213_EW_Austria.indd 212 12/09/17 3:04 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.1)
Date 5th December 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm