Moor-Rundwanderweg

Moor-Rundwanderweg - Nature Trail Moor Walking time 2 to 3 hours, easy to walk even for families and children. 1. Our hike begins in the center of Keutschach, directly at Keutschach Castle, which today houses the municipal office. The knightly family of Keutschach built a castle here in the Middle Ages; today's building dates from the 16th century. In this area you can also see the Catholic Church of St. Georg, a Gothic building erected in the middle of the 12th century. This ensemble also includes the rectory, the castle wall, and the Keutschach castle barn. The Gothic light column in the churchyard is one of the few preserved in the Carinthian region. 2. If you continue along the path towards Keutschach See, you have an overview of it with the mountain slopes bordering to the south and north. 3. The path continues – past the Buschenschenke (wine tavern) vlg. “Liendl” – to the lido on Keutschacher See. It is not only known for its naturalness and bathing water, which has drinking water quality; the first settlement in the form of pile dwellings also took place here in the Neolithic Age. 4. We are now already in the lake valley and reach the riparian forest areas. Before its settlement, the entire Keutschacher lake valley was covered by water surfaces, moors, and especially riparian forests. Even today, along the water and forest areas, we find rare species of animals and plants, such as the iridescent kingfisher, magnificent dragonflies, and blooming riparian forests bursting with green. 5. 6. We now reach the moor areas of Keutschacher See. These are of particularly great importance for nature. Fifty years ago, the moor and wetland areas were mown annually and were characterized by a great biodiversity. This biodiversity of orchids, sundew, butterflies, and much more is to be preserved. Here you will also find the moor pavilion, which gives you an overview of the 55 ha moor. Here you can observe various bird and animal species. 7. 8. 9. The path continues along the edge of the forest, past clear springs, clay pits (where the clay for Keutschach's famous pottery workshops was extracted), and beautiful mixed forest areas. Now we reach the small village of Dobeinitz and finally come to Bassgeigensee. 10. The Bassgeigensee is completely natural. Here you can also see the natural sequence of lake plant communities and have a great view of the typical Carinthian farmhouses to the north. 11. We now leave Bassgeigensee and the hike leads us up to this described hill with the farmhouses with scattered fruit trees. Here you enjoy a view over Bassgeigensee, the Sattnitzbergland, and in the background the Karawanken, which form Austria's southern border with Slovenia. 12. We now walk along the cycle path and return to the village of Dobeinitz. A straight section of road points the way back to the starting point of our hike, the village of Keutschach. Here you have another view to the west over moor areas, arable land and