Malta, Gemeinde#

Malta, Carinthia, municipality in the district of Spittal an der Drau, alt. 843 m, pop. 2,080, area 261.92 km2, in the southern part of the Malta Valley. Summer tourist centre (123,603 overnight stays) - Attractions: former provost´s cottage turned into an open air museum, Koschach nature trail, the Malta-Hochalm road, a mountain road leading to the Koelnbrein Dam (along the way various information stands on the minerals of the region and the national park etc.), Diana Game Park. Malta storage power station (built in 1977, 120 MW) with Koelnbrein Dam (200 m high, the highest dam in Austria; built between 1973 and 1977). A protected area from 1943 to 1964, the Malta Valley was made a landscape conservation area (until 1970). In 1987 the Hohe Tauern National Park was extended as far as the Ankogel Mountains. Today 8,570 hectares of municipal territory form part of the national park. - First settlements in Pre-Roman times; first documented mention of Malta between 957 and 992 under the name of "locus malontina". - Gothic parish church of Maria Hilf Assumptio (built in various stages between the 13th and the 15th centuries) with a Roman gravestone set into the wall, 15th century paintings in the vaults; 14th century frescoes on the walls of the choir (depicting the Three Magi, the Virgin Mary in labour, the Annunciation), high altar dating from 1740; Early Gothic circular charnel house (13th century) with 14th century frescoes depicting the Crucifixion; ruins of Weidegg Castle (also referred to as "Sonnenburg"). At Dornbach a Late Gothic church (frescoes created around 1463), high altar (around 1700); what the original Gothic Dornbach Palace (alterations added in the 16th century) is surrounded by a circuit of walls and a moat. Fallbach Waterfall nearby.