"J U D E N B U R G" a Judenburg Travel Page by coccinella169

In Middle ages, Judenburg used to be an important commercial town, which was founded at the intersection of old roman routes. They especially kept trade relations with Venice. You`ll notice the venetian influence when looking at Judenburg`s landmark- the city tower, which was built in a similar style as Venice campanile. Furthermore, you can still see in Judenburg parts of the medieval city walls, nice old buildings and courtyards with arcades. In the past decades they commited some "crimes against taste and architecture" and added a lot of awful new buildings. In addition they restored old buildings in a tasteless way, which unfortunately destroyed the character of the old town a bit.

The city tower, located close to the main square, has the function of the bell tower for the church St. Nikolaus, which has no spire of it`s own (which is rather unusual). Recently they opened a Planetarium on the top of the tower. You can either walk up the tower or take the new glass lift (nothing for the ones suffering from acrophobia :)).

Judenburg is located at the river Mur and surrounded by forests and alps (the so called "Seetaler Alpen"). The highest mountain is the "Zirbitzkogel" with an altitude of about 2.400 m. You`ll find some nice paths for walking, hiking and cycling in the area. The closest skiing grounds ("Lachtal") are an about 15, 20 min drive away. More fun are the skiing grounds at "Kreischberg", about 65 km from Judenburg and once scene of the snowboard world championship.