Page 214 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2016 - Austria

212  A USTRIA REGION b y REGION

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
region has been declared
Bronze-age finds in Hallstatt’s World Heritage Museum a World Heritage Site
by UNESCO.
g Hallstatt by the Saints Barbara, patron of
Road map D4. * 800. @ £ 4 miners, and Catherine, revered E Salzwelten Hallstatt
n Seestrasse 99 (06134) 8208. by woodcutters. Depicted on Lahnstrasse 21. Tel (06132) 200
∑ hallstatt.net the inner wings are scenes from 2400. Open late Apr–mid­Sep:
the lives of Mary and Jesus. 9:30am– 4:30pm daily; mid­Sep–
The small town of Hallstatt is one The altar is guarded by the Oct: 9:30am–3pm daily. & = -
of the loveliest tourist destina­ statues of two knightly saints, ∑ salzwelten.at
tions in the Salzkammergut. George and Florian. E World Heritage Museum
The steep drop of the Dachstein In the cemetery surrounding Seestrasse 56. Tel (06134) 828015.
massif provides a scenic backdrop the church stands the Beinhaus, Open Nov–Mar: 11am–3pm Wed–
for the town and adjacent a chapel that serves as a store­ Sun; Apr, Oct: 10am–4pm daily; May–
Hallstätter See. The houses are house for some very bizarre Sep: 10am–6pm daily. & =
clustered together so tightly objects. This former mortuary ∑ museum-hallstatt.at
that many are acces sible only now holds some 1,200 human
from the lakeside, while the old skulls, painted with floral designs h Gosauseen
street runs above the rooftops. and in many cases inscribed
Even the local Corpus Christi with the name, date and cause Road map D4. @
procession is held on the lake, of death of the deceased. Short­ n Gosau (06136) 8295.
in festive, decorated boats. age of space in the graveyard
Rising above the town on a had meant that some ten years You cannot truly appreciate
rocky headland is the pagoda­ after a funeral, when a body had the unique charms of the
like roof of the Pfarrkirche. decomposed, the remains were Salzkammergut without visiting
Its stepped dome dates from a moved to the chapel to make this outstandingly beautiful
later period, but the church was room for the next coffin to Alpine area. The Gosauseen are
built in the 15th century and to be buried, resulting in this three small mountain lakes –
this day contains many original unusual depository. Vorderer Gosausee, Gosaulacke
features, including the carved A short distance below the and Hinterer Gosausee – both
wooden altarpiece of the Virgin Catholic Pfarrkirche stands a are beautifully situated in
Mary, sometimes compared to Neo­Gothic Protestant church, limestone rocks intercut with
Pacher’s altar in St Wolfgang with a slender steeple. deep gorges. Vorderer Gosausee
(see p209). The figure of the Vertically above the town, lies at an altitude of 933 m
Madonna at its centre is flanked about 500 m (1,640 ft) higher, is (3,061 ft). An undemanding
Salzwelten Hallstatt, probably walk around the lake will reward
the oldest salt mine in the you with superb views of the
world, which can be reached by surrounding mountains and
cable car. Salt was mined here as over the Dachstein range with
early as 3,000 BC and then its many glaciers.
transported to the Baltic Sea The most picturesque
and the Mediterranean. mountain, with zigzag peaks
In 1846, a large cemetery and a sheer drop, is Gosaukamm
yielding some 2,000 graves was (2,459 m/8,068 ft high). This is
uncovered in Hallstatt. Rich bur­ the easternmost part of the
ial objects dated mainly from Alps where the snow stays on
the Iron Age but some dated the ground all year round.
even further back in time, to the The road to Hinterer Gosausee
Bronze Age. The Hallstatt finds climbs steeply among thick
proved so important archae­ forest. From this lake, 1,154 m
Painted skulls in the Beinhaus chapel of ologically that the Celtic culture (3,786 ft) high, you can climb
Hallstatt’s Pfarrkirche of that period (800–400 BC) some of the adjacent peaks.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp296–7 and pp320–21

212-213_EW_Austria.indd 212 03/09/15 5:43 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.1)
Date 5th December 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm