St Andra Attractions

St Andrä (433m/1,421ft; pop. 2,100) was the seat of the Prince-Bishops of Lavant from 1225 to 1859, when the see was transferred to Marburg, now Maribor in Slovenia, and their palace became a Jesuit college. The parish church, which goes back to the ninth C., has remains of 15th C. wall-paintings and numerous gravestones bearing coats of arms. The twin-towered Baroque Jesuit church of Maria-Loreto (1697) originally belonged to a convent of Dominican nuns which was dissolved in 1792; note the Baroque furnishings (statues and paintings). A visit to the local museum and the workshop of Lavanttal craftwork is also to be recommended.

At the extreme southern tip of the Ossiacher See, St Andrä provides an open air swimming pool and various sports. From here the motorway to Villach is quickly reached.