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Winter

There are few places where you can combine sports, culture and good food in such as delightful way as here.

St. Magdalena with the old chapel-turned-inn; © Bakay

Halltal offers great tobogganing fun for all experience levels. The toboggan track that starts on the northern side of Absam (parking at the entrance to Halltal) is 4.5 kilometers long and has a vertical drop of approx. 500 meters (about a 1.5-hour walk). The ascent has some steep sections that will raise your heart rate – and with grades of up to 32 percent they will raise your heart again on the way down! You may want to avoid this track when it’s too icy: you want to be able to stop if you need to.

The steep ascent is rewarded with spectacular mountain views: precipitous rock walls rise up beside the track and snow-covered peaks loom 2,700 meters above the valley.
In the old days it was the miners who walked this trail day in, day out. Ceramic findings show that salt was mined in Halltal as early as 500 BC. Until the mine was closed in 1967, the miners dug some 80 kilometers of tunnels into the mountains. Remnants of these days are the two loading stations along the way. At the second station (shed) you can see a wooden wayside shrine dedicated to the patron saints of miners, Rupert and Barbara

The rural baroque interior of St. Magdalena; © Bakay

After approx. 1.5 hours you will reach your destination: St. Magdalena, a small gothic church dating from 1486. St. Magdalena used to be the center of a monastery that, in its heydays, accommodated 24 Augustinian nuns. Monastery and church seem grand names here: in the beginning there was nothing but a small hermitage which the mine’s administrator had built for himself after retirement in 1441. But he couldn’t bear staying long in this unfriendly place where the sun rarely shone and the hermitage was soon abandoned. In later years the herimitage was settled with adventurous – or, more likely, oblivious – nuns from Baden, today Germany. The brave nuns stayed 70 years, living with the endless darkness and avalanches that often cut them off from civilization. After seven decades the nuns were finally allowed to leave this hostile place and return to the sun in the valley. The chapel and the monastery were abandoned until Tirolean counts started using them as hunting lodges.

In 1689 an earthquake destroyed the monastery and severely damaged the chapel. In 1874 the chapel was restored and turned into an inn, which is still open today. The church was magically spared any damage during the earthquake and stands as a symbol of peace and beauty in this harsh mountain environment. Inside the church there is a timeless quiet that soothes the mind and the soul. If you are open to it, you can feel what it once meant: to believe.

Whether you are a believer or not, a visit to this small church is highly recommended. And you need not feel humble, although it doesn’t harm. Especially not if you are planning on indulging in the hearty foot served next door, including succulent pork roast, rustic dumplings and homemade strudels.
Enjoy your cultural tobogganing trip to Halltal!

Contact

Gasthaus St. Magdalena im Halltal
Keine Hompage vorhanden; kein email
Halltal 23
6067 Absam, Austria
geöffnet von 9.00 bis 20.00 Uhr
Montag Ruhetag
Tel2: +43.664.9252913
Gasthaus St. Magdalena im Halltal