Page 189 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2016 - Austria

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k Leoben
Tips for Drivers Road map F4. * 25,000. @ £
n Hauptplatz 3 (03842) 48148-0.
Length of route: 100 km
(60 miles). Leoben, Styria’s second largest
Stopping places: the only town, is an industrial and
overnight accommodation is academic centre. Beautiful
available at Weichselboden. mansion houses line Hauptplatz
Suggestions: a visit to the (main square), and the adjacent
Köhlerzentrum (charcoal centre). streets bear witness to the
Tel (03634) 505-15. Open May– town’s early wealth derived
Oct: 10am–noon, 3–5pm daily. &
from the local iron deposits.
There is a lovely old town hall
with coats of arms, and the
Hacklhaus has a glittering
The main nave of the abbey church in red façade.
Mariazell Seckau Abbey Also worth seeing in the
old town is the Pfarrkirche St
j Seckau Xaver, the church of St Xaver,
built in the 17th century by
Road map E4. * 1,300. @ £
Tel (03514) 5205-3. the Jesuits, with its beautiful
Baroque main altar and a
The small town of Seckau, Romanesque crucifix on the
established in the 13th century, south wall. On the other side
has some interesting houses of the bridge across the Mur
and the late-Gothic chapel of river stands the Gothic church
St Lucia in the town square. of Maria am Waasen, with
But the main claim to fame lies original stained-glass windows
with Seckau Abbey, originally in the presbytery. On the
Augustinian and taken over southern outskirts, in the district
by the Benedictines in the of Göss, stands Styria’s first
19th century. Its present shape, Benedictine Abbey, built around
dating from the 17th century, 1000 by Archbishop Aribo. It is
is the work of Pietro Francesco mainly 16th-century with some
Carlone, but the abbey’s basilica earlier elements. The church’s
of the Assumption of the Virgin main nave is a monument to
Mary has maintained its original Styria’s late-Gothic architecture.
late-Gothic character. Among its Other original features include
treasures is the Crucifixion 14th-century frescoes in the
group in the presbytery, highly presbytery and an 11th-century,
expressive figures from the early-Romanesque crypt.
12th and 13th centuries. The lion Austria’s most famous
figures in the portal and the brewery, Gösser, a short way
Madonna and Child in the church from the abbey, is also open
vestibule are Romanesque or to the public. In the city
early Gothic, and on the south centre, at No. 6 Kirchgasse,
wall, 13th-century frescoes is the Kunsthalle Leoben,
were discovered. a museum of fine arts.

Weichselboden 4
It is worth stopping off in this
small village, one of very few
along this route, to visit its lime-
tree-shaded church. A very
small old hotel invites visitors
to stay.
The elegant Baroque façade of the Hacklhaus in Leoben
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp295–6 and pp318–20

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