Drautal

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Lower Drautal at the height of Feistritz in a north-west direction
The Rosental near Ferlach

The Drautal is the main valley of the Austrian state of Carinthia and East Tyrol . The Tyrolean upper reaches of the Drau is called Pustertal .

The Drau valley runs predominantly in a west-east direction and is one of the three large longitudinal valley furrows in Austria, which are associated with geological fault lines in the Alpine mountain formation. In the border area between South and East Tyrol it forms part of the periadriatic seam .

geography

The Drau valley begins in East Tyrol near the city of Lienz and ends in Lower Styria just before Marburg . The eponymous Drau rises clearly to the west of Lienz on the Toblacher Feld in South Tyrol ( Italy ) and flows through the Puster Valley to Lienz .

During the Ice Age, the Drau valley was widened by glaciers to form a wide trough valley . In the parts where the sediments reach greater depths, it can be called the inner-alpine basin . The flat valley floor offered the Carinthian population suitable areas for agriculture and construction and thus also led to a dense settlement of the Carinthian central area.

Classification

Side valleys

The most important side valleys of the Drautal:

  • the Iseltal from the left near Lienz
  • the Mölltal from the left at Möllbrücke
  • the Liesertal from the left at Spittal an der Drau
  • the Gailtal from the right near Villach
  • the valley from the left near Villach
  • the Gurktal from the left at Grafenstein
  • the Lavanttal from the left near Lavamünd
  • the Miestal from the right near Unterdrauburg

population

The population of the Drautal is concentrated in several cities. Lienz in East Tyrol, Spittal an der Drau, Villach, Ferlach, Völkermarkt, Lavamünd, Unterdrauburg and Marburg are the largest settlements in the Drautal. Between these metropolitan areas are smaller villages with a predominantly agricultural character. In addition to the German-speaking population, the Rosental and Jauntal are also home to a large proportion of the Slovenian-speaking Carinthians .

history

From approx. 200 BC The area belonged to the tribal area of ​​the Ambidravi , the "people living on both sides of the Drava", a Roman name for the Noric population who settled here and which arose from the resident Illyrians and the newly immigrated Celts , the Laiancers and Saevats .

See also