Page 18 - Lienz Treasure Chest

The oldest painted column shrine of Tyrol.

14 Column shrine in the gar- this building was built far from
den of the “Siechenhaus” (lazar the city proper. First mentioned in
Town upon Isel and Drava – Life at the Rivers house) – Dated around 1400, it is 1334, it is probably older than that.
considered the oldest painted co- In 1809, it was closed down. The
The Drava river has its source near Toblach/Dobbiaco (South Tyrol / lumn shrine in Tyrol. Thick shaft southern side is adorned with the
Alto Adige, Italy), runs across steep meadows and forests and thus with a massive upper part, four ni- 1612 fresco “Resurrection of La-
passes 430 vertical metres in its first ten kilometres. The watershed ches and a pyramid roof. Painted zarus” by Erasmus Hämmerl. The
of Toblach is very important, as the Drava flows east and into the with depictions of the Adoration painted sundial dates back to the
Black Sea, rather than west and into the Adriatic like all other sur- of the Three Kings, the Crucifixion early 17th century.
rounding rivers. Just outside of Lienz, it becomes a popular site for with Mary and John, Saints Doro-
kayaking and, in the eastern part of the city, it joins the last Alpine thea and Catherine between two
glacier river – the Isel. The emblematic river of the High Tauern bishops and St Christopher.
National Park, the Isel, starts out as a narrow mountain stream
near the Großvenediger mountain. It plunges, foaming, over rocks, Former “Siechenhaus” (lazar
thunderously burrows through deep ravines, takes in other Alpine house), Kärntnerstraße 39 – A for-
streams and then flows on as a wide, untamed river to Lienz, where mer welfare institution of the town.
it unites with the still-weak Drava. What comes from high up in the The lazar house, or leprosorium,
mountains is savage. So the wild river had to be regulated in pla- housed incurably ill people who
ces. But it was allowed to retain large parts of its original character. posed a risk of infection. They lived
under the care of the “lazar house
In Lienz, right by the Spitalsbrücke leading across the Isel, you can father”. They received a uniform and
find informative charts from the High Tauern National Park on the had to carry a wooden rattle or a
subject. The “Heart River of East Tyrol” is dear to our hearts. bell if they went out in order to alert
passers-by. Like all lazar houses,

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