St. Veit An Der Glan

Sankt Veit an der Glan, as the town is correctly named, lies in the Glan valley in the north of Carinthia, at about 475 metres, at the point where the Alpine foothills open toward the Klagenfurt basin. About 12,000 people live in the municipality. The Gurktal Alps rise to the north and west, while to the south the Glan flows toward Klagenfurt.

Its history places it among the most important towns in Carinthia. In the twelfth century, the Spanheim dukes made Sankt Veit their seat, and it remained the capital of the Duchy of Carinthia until 1518, when Emperor Maximilian I handed the city of Klagenfurt to the estates and the capital moved there. The town's medieval importance is visible in its walls, gates and the large main square.

The walled old town is compact and rewarding. The Hauptplatz is a long, wide square with arcaded burgher houses, a Renaissance town hall with a stepped gable and a Baroque plague column, and a fountain, the Schüsselbrunnen, whose bowl is a local symbol. Several historic gates remain, as does a stretch of the wall, and the lanes behind the square have courtyards and small shops. A short walk takes in the whole centre, with cafes serving coffee and cake.

The parish church of St. Vitus, the Stadtpfarrkirche St. Veit, is a Romanesque and Gothic church of the twelfth to fifteenth centuries, with later Baroque additions. It is large and well preserved, with wall paintings and carved altars. The old ducal castle, the Herzogsburg, by the square, recalls the town's rank, and a small museum, the Stadtmuseum, in a historic building, shows local history and the civic collections.

The great sight of the area is Hochosterwitz Castle, about eight kilometres east of town. This castle stands on a 160-metre limestone rock rising out of the valley, and its approach is through 14 fortified gates along a winding path, an unusual defence that makes it among the best-known castles in Austria. The castle is privately owned by the Khevenhüller family and open to visitors from spring to autumn, with a museum of armour inside. The view from the top over the Glan valley is excellent. Visitors who like castles may also see the ruins and estates in the valley.

The Gurktal Alps, the range to the north, offer walking, mountain biking and skiing at small family areas, and the Alpine meadows and forest are quiet. The Glan has a cycle path that leads toward Klagenfurt, and further north the Gurk valley, with Gurk Cathedral, a major Romanesque church, is about half an hour away. In summer, a large folk fair, the Wiesenmarkt, takes place in the town in June, with processions, stalls and music, one of the oldest and biggest in Carinthia, and in winter the Fasching, the carnival season, includes lively parades.

Food is Carinthian: Kärntner Kasnudeln, Reindling, ham and bacon, and in the cafes coffee and cake. The nearby farms sell cheese and fruit.

The best time to visit is from May to September, with June for the Wiesenmarkt, and good light in October. Winters are cold and quiet.

Getting there is easy. Sankt Veit has a railway station on the line between Klagenfurt and Vienna, with trains from Klagenfurt in about 15 minutes, and the S37 expressway and the A2 motorway run nearby. Klagenfurt is about 20 kilometres south, Graz about two hours, Vienna about four hours and Villach about 50 minutes.