Irschen is a municipality in the district of Spittal an der Drau in the state of Carinthia.
Geography
It consists of the
Katastralgemeinden Irschen, Ritterdorf, and Simmerlach. It is situated on the northern slope of the Upper
Drava Valley, near the
B 100 Drautal Straße highway and the
Drautalbahn railway line.
History
A settlement area since the Early
Iron Age (Hallstatt Culture), Irschen may be identical to the
Idunum polis in the former
Celts kingdom of
Noricum, as mentioned in Ptolemy's Geographia. In
Roman Empire times a
mansio laid on the
Roman roads leading over the
Gailbergsattel mountain pass to Italia. Ursus I, Patriarch of Aquileia probably built the first church about 810 in the place then called
Ursen, which was mentioned as
Castrum Ursen in a 1086 deed. In
Middle Ages times Irschen was a
mining area, especially for
gold.
It was recently revealed that the English actress Billie Piper has a home in this region.
