Gummern

Gummern brings together the Drau River landscape, limestone mining and a long history of marble quarrying. A sculpture trail and connections to various cycle routes add to the town’s industrial and historical character.

Limestone Works and Landscape on the Drau

The OMYA marble, lime and artificial stone works is located in Gummern. The Gummern limestone works lies on the northern bank of the Drau, in a narrow valley formed by the eastern foothills of the Bleiberger Erzberg and the Wollanigberg. The crystalline limestone extends from the Tragenwinkler Alm across the Große and Kleine Pleschwand and the Kölbl near Puch to the Wollanigberg. White, yellowish to grey crystalline limestone is quarried in Gummern. A marble quarry can be seen along the cycle route after the village of Gummern. Various calcium carbonate products are manufactured in the large white-and-blue factory buildings. This offers a way to understand the town’s industrial side through its landscape, materials and manufacturing.

The History of the Marble Quarry

The Gummern marble quarry is considered Carinthia’s largest and most important marble quarry. It was already known to the Romans. Later medieval quarrying covered the Roman quarry at Gummern with quarry waste. The Roman connection and this later change belong to two separate periods in the local quarry’s history.

Sculpture Trail and Cycle Routes

The Krastal Sculpture Trail offers a different perspective. This open-air sculpture project comprises 15 sculpture sites and is best explored by bicycle. It starts on the Drau Cycle Path in Gummern, runs through the Krastal valley and ends on the Ossiacher See Cycle Path. The 15 sites and the route are two distinct points of reference: the number describes the sculpture sites, while the route traces the connection through the Krastal valley between the cycle paths.

The Drau Cycle Path runs from Töplitsch over a bridge to Gummern, crossing to the other side of the river. On Stage 7 of the Carinthian Way of St James, the Villach–Gummern section is about 9.7 km long. The details answer different questions: for the Drau Cycle Path, the focus is on crossing the bridge and changing riverbanks; for the Way of St James, it is the approximate length of a specific section.

A Cultural Event in the Annual Programme

The Omya Gummern works is one of the venues of the Carinthian Summer, which takes place every year in July and August. The venues may vary from year to year. If attending the festival is important to your stay, check the programme for the relevant year before making plans.

If you are looking for a hotel for a trip to Gummern, you can consider the town in light of the reason for your stay: the history of the quarry provides a cultural and historical highlight, while the sculpture trail combines art with a specific cycle route. The details about the Drau Cycle Path and the Way of St James offer different route connections.

Discover more destinations: Kerschdorf, Rosenbach, Treffen Am Ossiacher See, Afritz, Ferndorf, Feistritz An Der Gail, Gorintschach, Stöcklweingarten

Go to the main travel overview: Villach.