Carinthia's lake city — Roman ruins, Alpine lakes, and the gateway to three countries
Villach is Austria's sixth-largest city, set at the confluence of the Drau and Gail rivers in Carinthia's sun-bathed lake district, within 20km of both the Italian and Slovenian borders. The city sits atop extensive Roman ruins — Santicum was a significant Roman settlement — and the old town preserves a handsome pedestrian core around the Church of St Jakob. Villach is the gateway to the Wörthersee and other celebrated Carinthian lakes and is the venue for one of Austria's largest street carnivals. The surrounding mountains offer skiing at Nassfeld and cycling along the Drauradweg.
Villach's history reaches back to the Celtic Taurisci tribe and the Roman settlement of Santicum, an important road junction on the route from Aquileia to the Danube frontier. The city passed through Bavarian, Frankish, and then Habsburg control, becoming a significant market town on the Venice-Vienna trade route. The catastrophic earthquake of 1348 reshaped the town; the Church of St Jakob, rebuilt in the 15th century, still dominates the skyline. Villach's position at the junction of three Alpine nations — Austria, Italy, Slovenia — has always given it a cosmopolitan character.