Iron Trail with Erzberg and the old town of Steyr

I visited Erzberg mine and nearby town of Eisenerz, one component of this serial TWHS, by coincidence in 2009, and I had no feeling that I have seen something that has a potential to be inscribed to the list. Actually, I was quite surprised when checking the TWHS list of Austria very recently that I found the site that I have visited!

The reason of my visit was just to have a short stay in Alps after my conference trip to Graz (quite nice WHS). I traveled with my colleagues by car, and they found quite reasonable accommodation with easy access to peaks of Styria Alps.

It happened that the evening of our arrival to Erzberg area was very hot with temperatures above 30deg. During night, temperature dropped by around 20 degrees and it was very cold with heavy raining. We postponed the trip to alpine mountains to the next day. Instead, we headed to the town of Eisenerz. It was rather small, with historical houses very similar to what I have seen in Graz. The most interesting part was the fortified church, but all these small historical towns and churches can be seen everywhere in the Central Europe. However, we noticed that the site bears quite important mining heritage. If I remember properly, it was possible to have a guided tour in the iron mines, but we refused.

Next day, the weather was just suited for climbing uphill, and we did so. During the tour, I …

The only part of this nomination I visited is the the town of Steyr. Steyr is one of many nice historical little towns in Central Europe. It's situated on the confluence of the rivers Steyr and Enns which gives it a nice setting. The main square and the old town in general are mainly Baroque (as is most of Austria). Some mediaeval architecture is available too. Steyr makes a nice day trip, but is probably not enough to justify an inscription.