In Gummern, quarry history meets a cycling route featuring sculptures along the Drau. The marble quarry was known as far back as Roman times; the Krastal Sculpture Trail begins on the Drau Cycle Path in the village and runs through the Krastal valley to the Lake Ossiach Cycle Path. This makes Gummern particularly well suited to a combination of scenery, industrial heritage and cycling. The OMYA marble, lime and artificial stone works are located in Gummern; the lime works lie on the northern bank of the Drau.

Limestone landscape and quarry history

The Gummern lime works lie in a narrow valley formed by the eastern foothills of the Bleiberger Erzberg and Wollanigberg. Crystalline limestone extends from the Tragenwinkler Alm across the Große and Kleine Pleschwand and the Kölbl near Puch to Wollanigberg. The crystalline limestone is white, yellowish to grey. This places a clearly located works on the northern bank of the Drau alongside a geological context that extends far beyond the village.

The municipality describes the Gummern marble quarry as Carinthia’s largest and most important marble quarry. The quarry was known as far back as Roman times. Later, medieval quarrying covered the Roman quarry with quarry waste. The sequence is significant: Roman-era activity was followed by medieval quarrying, which buried the older site.

Cycling route with sculptures

The Krastal Sculpture Trail is an open-air sculpture project with 15 locations and is best explored by bicycle. It begins on the Drau Cycle Path in Gummern, runs through the Krastal valley and reaches the Lake Ossiach Cycle Path. Both its starting point and its route through the valley are clearly defined; the 15 sculpture locations give the cycling route its artistic character.

The Drau Cycle Path leads from Töplitsch across a bridge to Gummern, crossing to the other side of the Drau. Along a cycling route, a marble quarry can be seen after the village of Gummern. Various calcium carbonate products are made in its large white-and-blue factory buildings. This adds another focus to the Sculpture Trail: here, the emphasis is on crossing the river and the quarry; there, on the art locations and the route through the Krastal valley.

Cultural events and the Way of St James

The Omya works in Gummern is one of the venues for the Carinthian Summer Festival. The festival takes place every year in July and August, but its venues may vary from year to year. So if you are planning to attend a concert, check the programme for your travel dates. This lets you coordinate the festival date with the specific venue.

For a walking trip, the Villach–Gummern section of Stage 7 of the Carinthian Way of St James is another option: it is about 9.7 km long. This distance refers to the section named above. By comparison, the Krastal Sculpture Trail is described as a cycling route with 15 locations; the two details help you consider a walking stage and a cycling tour as different travel plans.

Discover more destinations: Fresach, Pölling, Gerlitzen, Feistritz An Der Gail, Zlan, St. Egyden, Drobollach Am Faakersee, Heiligengeist

Return to the main travel overview: Villach.