Zollfeld Blick von Karnburg nach Maria Saal

Zollfeld () is a slightly ascending plain in

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

with interspersed small woods, hills, and swamps. It is one of the oldest cultural landscapes in the East Alpine region.

Geography

It is from to wide and about long, with an elevation between above sea level. It is situated in the larger Klagenfurt Basin of the

Central Eastern Alps The Central Eastern Alps (), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps () or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacent regions of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy and Slovenia. South of them is ...

and extends along the Glan River from north of Klagenfurt to Sankt Veit an der Glan. The plain is surrounded by four prominent peaks of the basin: the Ulrichsberg () in the south and the Magdalensberg () in the east as well as the Gößeberg () and the Lorenziberg in the north (). Since about 500 years the mountains are stops on the annual ''Vierbergelauf''

procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...

celebrated on second Friday after

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

History

The oldest archaeological findings at

Magdalensberg Magdalensberg ( Slovene: ''Štalenska gora'') is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in Carinthia in Austria. Geography Magdalensberg lies at the foot of the Magdalensberg in the Klagenfurt basin in the lower Gurk valley. The Gurk an ...

originate from the time of

Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western Europe, Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallst ...

(8th to 6th centuries BCE). The area was the cultural and political centre of the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

kingdom and the later

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

province of

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the north, R ...

, when under the rule of Emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

(41–54 AD) the city of

Virunum Claudium Virunum was a Roman Empire, Roman city in the province of Noricum, on today's Zollfeld in the Austrian State of Carinthia (state), Carinthia. Virunum may also have been the name of the older Celtic-Roman settlement on the hilltop of Magd ...

was established as the province's capital, replacing - or maybe identical with - ancient

Noreia Noreia is an ancient lost city in the Eastern Alps, most likely in southern Austria. While according to Julius Caesar it is known to have been the capital of the Celtic kingdom of Noricum, it was already referred to as a lost city by Pliny the ...

. Since 2015 archaeological excavations have been carried out in the Roman cemetery in Virunum. Following the

Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps The settlement of the Eastern Alps region by early Slavs took place during the 6th to 8th centuries CE. It formed part of the southward expansion of early Slavs which would result in the South Slavic group, and would ultimately result in the ethno ...

about 600, the Karnburg (''Krnski grad'') fortress became the center of the Principality of

Carantania Carantania, also known as Carentania (, , in Old Slavic '), was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern Slovenia. Since the middle of the ...

, which about 740 was

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

ized by Duke

Odilo of Bavaria Odilo, also Oatilo or Uatilo (died 18 January 748) of the Agilolfing dynasty was Duke of Bavaria from 737 until his death in 748. He had the ''Lex Baiuvariorum'' compilation edited, the first ancient Germanic law collection of the Bavarians. Lif ...

. With Bavaria, a part of the

Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Franks, Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as List of Frankish kings, kings of the Franks since ...

under

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

from 788 onwards, a ''

Kaiserpfalz The term ''Kaiserpfalz'' (, "imperial palace") or ''Königspfalz'' (, "royal palace", from Middle High German ''phal ne'' to Old High German ''phalanza'' from Middle Latin ''palatia'' luralto Latin ''palatium'' "palace") refers to a number o ...

'' at Karnburg was erected about 830. It remained the administrative center after the

Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (; ; ) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial State after the original German stem duchies. Car ...

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 The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite o ...

, stood and the Dukes of Carantania were installed. Near

Maria Saal Maria Saal () is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain (''Gosposvetsko polje''), the wide valley of the Glan River. The municipality includes ...

stands the

Duke's Chair The Duke's Chair, also known as the Duke's Seat (, or ), is a medieval stone seat dating from the ninth century and located at the Zollfeld plain near Maria Saal, north of Klagenfurt in the Austrian state of Carinthia. History The Duke's ...

, where the newly installed dukes distributed their land among the vassals.

References

{{Coord, 46, 43, 20, N, 14, 22, 11, E, region:AT-2_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Geography of Carinthia Carantania

Geography

History

See also

References