Irschen

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Irschen
Coat of arms	Location

Administration
Country	Austria
State	Carinthia
District	Spittal an der Drau
Mayor	Gottfried Mandler
Basic statistics
Area	33.35 km² (12.9 sq mi)
Elevation	809 m (2654 ft)
Population	2,089 (13/06/2008)
- Density	63 /km² (162 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal code	9773
Area code	04710
Website	www.irschen.at Coordinates: 46°45′0″N 13°1′0″E / 46.75, 13.01667

Irschen is a municipality in the district of Spittal an der Drau in the Austrian state of Carinthia. 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.

Irschen

A settlement area since the Early Iron Age (Hallstatt Culture), Irschen may be identical to the Idunum polis in the former Celtic kingdom of Noricum, as mentioned in Ptolemy's Geographia. In Roman times a mansio laid on the road leading over the Gailbergsattel mountain pass to Italia. Ursus I, Patriarch of Aquileia probably built a first church about 810 in the place then called Ursen, which was mentioned as Castrum Ursen in a 1086 deed. In medieval times Irschen was a mining area, especially for gold.