A long, steep-sided mountain rising directly out of the Klagenfurt basin to the north-east, the Magdalensberg has been a sacred and strategic spot since the Iron Age. The Celtic Norican kingdom had its capital here, and after the Roman annexation an enormous trading city was built on the southern slope to handle the iron, gold and salt of the eastern Alps.
Excavations of the Roman city are open to the public — foundations, mosaics, the forum and a museum showing finds including the famous bronze "Youth of Magdalensberg." From the chapel at the summit there is an extraordinary panorama across the basin and south to the Karawanken. The Vierbergelauf, an all-night pilgrimage that visits four nearby hills, starts here on the Friday after the spring new moon.