Igls

Igls is a village and district of Innsbruck, lying on a terrace 870 metres above sea level beneath the Patscherkofel. The settlement sits above the Sill valley, where the Ramsbach and Viller Bach streams meet. Its centre includes the parish church of St Ägidius and a small group of shops and inns. Beyond the village, meadows and woodland stretch up gentle slopes towards the mountain.

The place first appears in records linked to the 11th-century Vogt Eigilis and to St Giles, patron of the church. Archaeologists have found early medieval graves and a prehistoric site on the nearby Goldbichl hill. In the 19th century Igls became a summer resort for Innsbruckers who built villas here. The 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics brought a bobsleigh and luge track and a ski course that are still used for international events.

Visitors walk the streets of the village core, passing the church and the Kur- und Kongresszentrum. A path leads to the free Gletschertopf, a glacial pothole marked by signs. The Patscherkofelbahn cable car starts at the valley station in Igls and climbs through forests to a viewing terrace above Innsbruck. At Heiligwasser a small Baroque pilgrimage church stands beside a spring once thought to have healing powers.