Paternion#

Paternion, Carinthia, market town in the district of Villach-Land, alt. 519 m, pop. 5,928, area 105.48 km2, situated in the lower Drautal valley, between the towns Spittal an der Drau and Villach. - Forest inspectorate, Paternion run-of-river plant (opened in 1987, 23.5 MW); centre for cultural events and community centre, Federal Armed Force's field firing range at Marwiesen in the cadastral district of Feistritz an der Drau. Building enterprises, production of machine parts, wood processing, waste management company, trade, summer resort (21,976 overnight stays in 1992). - Documented mention in 1296 and 1341; parish and pilgrimage church in Baroque style (completed in 1676) with late Gothic side chapel, a Roman altar forms part of the faade above the south portal; castle (16th  century, rebuilt in the 19th  century) containing Roman stone remnants. Houses (from the 16th to the 19th  centuries) with round-arched portals. Parish church in Gothic style (around 1520) in Feistritz, "Maria am Bichl" chapel with murals (around 1440) and statue of Maria (16th  century). Fortified settlement (around 400 A.D.), situated on the hill near Duel above Feistritz, in the southern part of this settlement, foundations of a three-nave church destroyed by the Slavs around 600 A.D. Late Gothic parish church in Kreuzen, rebuilt in Baroque style, main altar around 1660. Kreuzen Castle, built in 1591; in Tragail, Roman chapel with murals from the 14th and 15th centuries; in Nickelsdorf, filial church in Gothic style, winged altar-piece dating from 1553.