Pyramidenkogel, Observation tower on Pyramidenkogel mountain in Carinthia, Austria.
Pyramidenkogel is an 851-meter mountain in Carinthia topped with a 100-meter tall wooden observation tower. The structure provides views across Lake Wörthersee and the surrounding Alpine terrain through multiple viewing platforms at different heights.
The first observation platform appeared on the mountain in 1950, replaced by a steel tower in 1968. The current wooden structure opened in 2013 as a modern successor to these earlier installations.
The Slovenian name Jedvovca is recorded for the mountain, which lies in an area where German and Slovenian speakers meet. A cross consecrated on 20 August 1950 commemorates the dead of both World Wars and "victims of the mountains"; a Trausteinmesse, a special Mass, is held there at the end of summer each year.
The tower stands on the 851-metre Pyramidenkogel south of the Wörthersee near Maria Wörth. It is open all year round. Inside, a visitors' platform lies at 83 metres and a cafe at 70 metres, so you can stop at the height you prefer. The 66-metre slide runs down from the tower.
The tower's architects, Markus Klaura and Dietmar Kaden of Klagenfurt, with engineer Markus Lackner of Villach, stacked ellipses into what Kaden called a "ladder into heaven"; Klaura proposed naming it "Isis Noreia" after the goddesses Isis and Noreia. The structure is PEFC-certified, and its 66-metre slide was Europe's longest.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,512 contributors worldwide.