Rauris#

Rauris, province of Salzburg, market town in the district of Zell am See, alt. 948 m, pop. 2,957, area 253.03 km2, bi-seasonal tourism (423,637 overnight stays in 1992) situated on the Rauriser Ache river, at the foot of the Sonnblick Mountains, Rauris is the largest community in Salzburg in terms of area. - Provincial Forest Authority, Zittelhaus refuge (since 1866 an observatory) located on Hoher Sonnblick Mountain (alt. 3,106 m), Goldberghaus mountain refuge, 2 small run-of-river power plants, chip-burning district heating plant; Literaturtage literature festival. - Gold mining, first documented in 1292 (Kolm-Saigurn, a former settlement in the valley); Rauris was the administrative centre of mining activities from 1460 to 1560 and during the 18th  century, mines closed down around 1900. - Parish church with Gothic nave (1411) and choir (1510-1516), altered in Baroque style 1774-1780, frescoes (1942, in the choir 1781), altarpieces and pulpit (18th century); chapel of St. Michael (1497) with altarpiece (1751) and monuments (16th /17th centuries); the old school building now houses the museum of local heritage (with exhibits on gold mining and the fauna of the Hohe Tauern Range); serpentine lantern (1499) in the cemetery; mining company buildings in the centre of the town, Baroque parish church in Bucheben, miners' homes and remains of workshops; Tauernhaus farmstead and refuge (documented mention 1491). Customs: Perchtenlauf procession, performances of a popular version of the Jedermann play. Barbarafall waterfall in the vicinity.