Top 17 Natural Monuments around Bleiburg

Lake Gösselsdorf is located in the heart of a nature reserve. It invites you to stroll, linger, and dream all year round. In summer, the water temperature reaches up to 27 degrees Celsius, making it the perfect place to cool off on warm days. Its water is clear and of drinking quality. It is also known that calamus grows in the lake, which makes for particularly beautiful, supple skin.

I have to disagree with my predecessor. The lake is said to have very good, healing water, despite, or perhaps because of, the water lilies...

The entire lake is 80% covered with water lilies.

Beautiful lake, but not really suitable for swimming as it is 80% covered with water lilies.

Beautiful summit with a first-class panoramic view. You could even drive to the Wackersdorfer Hütte by car. The path first leads along a gravel path, then over beautiful alpine pastures to the summit! 🤩

The Devil's Stone in the Jauntal valley near Globasnitz in Carinthia. According to legend, the rock was broken off the Petzen (a 2126 meter high mountain peak a little further south) by the devil in anger over an escaped soul and hurled into the Jauntal valley. The devil's thumbprint can still be seen on the front today.

The Petzen, which forms the eastern foothills of the Karawanks chain, offers the best opportunities for sporting activities in every season. This mountain massif is characterized by steep rock faces, flowering alpine meadows and extensive fields of mountain pines. In winter, it is skiers and ski tourers who mainly use the mountain; after the snow melts, it is a magnet for hikers, mountain bikers and paragliders. A variety of different, well-signposted hiking routes with rustic and cozy alpine huts that invite you to pause and rest can be reached on varied hiking trails. Several mountain peaks tower above the high plateau: the Feistritzer Spitze (2114 m), the Knieps (2110 m) and the Kordeschkopf (2126 m). During the entire hike, the view leads you down to the surrounding valleys and the breathtaking natural scenery of this mountain world.

Its name already suggests that the approximately six-meter-high structure made up of three rock blocks piled on top of each other cannot simply be a freak of nature. According to legend, the devil is not only the eponym, but is said to have had a hand in the construction of the stone himself. Seen from a distance, the walls of the stone initially appear quirky and crooked. Up close, however, a flat surface is revealed. This could have been formed either by the weather or by human hands. Several scientific studies have already dealt with this question as well as the question of the astronomical significance of the stone. Measurements have shown that the Teufelstein, together with the Königskogel and four old churches in the area, forms a geometric pattern in the shape of a dragon or deltoid. Another astronomical peculiarity is the orientation of the large, flat wall, which points to the axis of the great lunar solstice as well as that of the winter and summer solstices. According to scientists, this cannot be just a coincidence, but rather the stone tower was precisely aligned. (Source: http://www.calendersign.com/de/aa_teufelstein.php.3.8.2014) Perhaps it was the devil himself who placed the rocks on top of each other in exactly this way? In any case, the legend of the Devil's Stone says that the fallen angel Lucifer tried to build a tower to heaven on Christmas Eve. He would have had time until the second bell rang during communion to be taken back to heaven. When this attempt failed, he is said to have left the unfinished tower on earth in a rage and returned to hell himself. In any case, it seems certain that the Devil's Stone, as it is popularly known, has always had a special attraction for people. The Styrian poet Peter Rosegger once reported on a mass, the so-called "Teufelsteinkirtag", which is said to have taken place annually on St. Lawrence's Day at least until 1890. Now, more than 100 years later, around 500 people gather at the Teufelstein on the morning of the winter solstice to watch the sunrise. For a long time, the Teufelstein was considered a pagan cult site and was demonized by the church, but today the site is a mystical place that many people find to be filled with a unique atmosphere and power and that still poses a mystery to science.