Maria Rain brings together a Baroque pilgrimage church, routes for cycling and walking, and distinctive landscapes along the Drau. The following places and routes offer a range of different highlights.
Nature and Views
The natural spectacle known as “Ewiger Regen” lies on the southern escarpment of the Sattnitz-Koglomerat, facing the Drau. Numerous seepage springs have formed substantial deposits of calcareous tufa and seepage meadows there. Anyone interested in how distinctive landscape features are formed will find a tangible example here: water emerges from the ground and shapes the terrain with its deposits.
The Drau is also part of Maria Rain’s landscape: near Maria Rain, it is dammed to form the Ferlach reservoir. From the Kaiserhütte, views extend across the Rosental Valley and the Karawanks. The hut was built in honour of Emperor Franz Josef I. The Kaiserhüttenweg is a hiking trail in Maria Rain. These details offer several starting points for planning, without specifying a particular route or walking time.
Cycle Paths and Local Routes
The long-distance cycle path between Ferlach and Klagenfurt runs directly through the municipality of Maria Rain. The connections from Maria Rain provide direct access to the Drau Cycle Path. This makes it easy to include the village in a cycling tour: the two details describe both the route through the municipality and the connection to the Drau Cycle Path.
For a route with a specified starting point and return, consider the “Hofstätter Wald” walking route: it runs from the municipal offices via cycle path R7 and the Hofstätter Wald to the pilgrimage church and back to the municipal offices. The “Hollenburglauf” running route also starts at the municipal offices, then passes the pilgrimage church, Untertöllern and Lambichl, as well as the R7/railway section, before returning. The places listed make the two routes easy to distinguish: one goes through the Hofstätter Wald, while the other passes through the named localities and along the railway section.
Pilgrimage Church and Building History
The Maria Rain/Žihpolje parish church is a Baroque pilgrimage church built in 1729. Its core incorporates a late Gothic predecessor dating from 1445/56. The church also houses a monumental Baroque high altar dating from 1694. The dates indicate different building periods at one site: the altar predates the Baroque church, whose core, in turn, dates back to the late Gothic predecessor. The church is on the Hemma Pilgrimage Route.
Roadside shrines and local traditions are also part of the area’s religious history. The Plaschkreuz is the fourth of five gabled wayside shrines on the route from Maria Rain railway station to the pilgrimage church. It is also a station on the annual Corpus Christi procession. The annual Easter food blessing takes place at the Ounitschkreuz. The two sites thus differ both in their relationship to the route and in the customs associated with them.
Other Churches and Traditions
The Danielskreuz is a richly painted gabled wayside shrine with an accessible niche and a hipped roof covered with wooden shingles. May devotions are held there regularly; on the Wednesday before Ascension Day, a rogation procession sets off from there for the parish church in Göltschach. The Göltschach parish church in Göltschach/Golšovo is an 18th-century Baroque church, built on the site of a Gothic predecessor. According to an inscription, its tower and northern sacristy were built in 1632.
A few kilometres east of Maria Rain stands the Gothic branch church of St. Ulrich. It was documented in 1453 as a branch church of Köttmannsdorf. These different historical points of reference complement each other: architectural styles and dates tell the story of the churches, while processions and devotions mark the recurring religious calendar.
River Crossing and Short Walk
Following an old tradition, the Valentinsfähre offers a crossing by Zille boat from Glainach across the Drau to Maria Rain. Check the crossing dates before planning if you would like to include it. The Bischof-Paulitsch-Kapelle is within walking distance of the Maria Rain pilgrimage church: a 2023 excursion guide gives the walking time as less than half an hour; actual times may vary depending on conditions.
Discover more destinations: Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Moosburg in Carinthia, Techelsberg am Wörther See, Köttmannsdorf, Plaschischen, Sankt Margareten im Rosental, Sekirn, Ottmanach.
View the broader travel overview: Klagenfurt-Land.
