Völkermarkt, an old township in eastern Carinthia, lies on a terrace above the River Drau, here dammed to form an artificial lake 21km/13mi long. The town ("Volko's market") was founded in 1100 and received its municipal charter in 1253. Völkermarkt was for centuries a place of some consequence as a trading and frontier town. Situated in a region with a preponderance of Slovenian people, it was several times besieged and occupied, but finally became part of Austria in 1920.
From the Bürgerlust park to the south of the town of Völkermarkt there is a fine view over the long artificial lake to the Karawanken. To the west of the old town stands the old and frequently rebuilt church of St Rupert, with its Romanesque tower, and also Schloss Kohlhof.
At the northern end of the Völkermarkt Hauptplatz stands the former castle (Neue Burg), which the Emperor made over to the town in 1453; it is now the offices of the town council. The museum on the southern side of the square is a handsome arcaded building of the late 15th C. In the middle of the square, between these two buildings, stands an 18th C. Plague Column. There is also a monument commemorating the 1920 plebiscite, after which Yugoslavia was obliged to return the town to Austria.
This Gothic church has a twin-towered Romanesque west front; note the 15th C. Gothic wall paintings inside. In front of the church stands a Gothic "Lantern of the Dead" (1477).
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