Muraunberg

The Muraunberg stands in the Glan valley of southern Austria, a rounded hill rising where the Glan river bends southwards into the Zollfeld plain. It belongs to the Glantal range, a southern spur of the Gurktal Alps, and overlooks the villages of St. Veit, Tanzenberg and Hörzendorf. The small settlement of Muraunberg clings to its southern slope, while the Hörzendorfer See glints below to the southwest. The hill is linked to the Roman town of Virunum, whose name survives in local speech. During the 20th century the Austrian army used part of the northern flank as a munitions depot. In the same period a forty-five-metre ski jump operated there until it was removed. A Loreto chapel built in the 19th century, a medieval burgfried stone and the St. Veiter Richtkreuz mark the northern ridge, giving the hill layers of military, religious and civic history. Visitors find gentle paths winding through vineyards and orchards on the southern slope. The Hörzendorfer See offers flat cycling loops around its reed-fringed shore. At the summit a broad meadow opens toward the Zollfeld plain and the distant Magdalensberg. On clear days the peaks of the Gurktal Alps frame the horizon, while the old Richtkreuz stands silhouetted against the sky.