Seeboden, Austria

1. Seeboden

Seeboden rose in the western bay of the Millstätter See and climbs gently up the adjacent mountain ridge.

The history of Seeboden is rich, because objects from the 3rd millennium BC Stone Age, then from the Bronze Age, from the Hallstatt period, have been discovered here. This area was inhabited by the Illyrians, who spoke an Indo-Germanic language, hence the names Tauern (assigned to the large mountain groups in the area) and Drau (the main river in the direction of Italy). Later, the Romans and Slavs left their influence on these lands.

Seeboden is an eminently recreational, civilized resort, where tourism is the core activity.

Sights of the place are:
- 12th-century Sommeregg Burg (fortress),
- which hosts the Museum of Torture
- Bonsai Museum
- Millstätter See

2. Millstätter See

The lake, which bathes the shore of the resort Seeboden and it stretches out near several other localities, is Millstätter Seeat an altitude of 588 meters above sea level.

It occupies 14 sq km, is 12 km long, 2 km wide, and reaches a maximum depth of 141 m. It collects 30 fords and forms the Seebach River.

The name Millstatt comes from Latin and is linked to the legend of the lake, which says that in the 8th century Domitian threw a thousand statues into the lake.

What's interesting is how this huge lake was formed. After the Ice Age, the Moell and Drautal glaciers formed an ice stream, which merged further downstream with the Lieser glacier and then settled in the Seeboden valley. It is therefore considered a naturally formed ice age lake.

To the N of the lake there are peaks of about 2000 m of the Millstaetter Alps, in the S is another lower mountain ridge, and in the E rises Mirnock Peak 2110 mdm. On the mentioned peaks you can organize generally easy hikes.

It struck me when I saw people bathing in the waters of this lake, which is so wide and deep. Well, the surface temperature of the lake reaches 22 to 28 degrees Celsius.

I have admired and played and waded with swans and ducks, met cygots and donkeys, watched the beasts, watched the fish in the water, ozonized and felt very relaxed.