Valzur, Mountain settlement in Paznaun Valley, Austria.
Valzur is a hamlet (Rotte) of the municipality of Ischgl in the Paznaun Valley, about 6 km upstream from Ischgl and just over 1 km beyond Mathon, on the right bank of the Trisanna at roughly 1500 m. It consists of two parts, Obervalzur and Untervalzur, plus the Valzur commercial area above the Silvrettastraße. Between Valzur and Mathon the Lareintal opens into the Paznaun Valley from the south.
The settlement was originally divided into two sections, Obervalzur and Untervalzur, until a major avalanche in 1999 destroyed the lower part. Following this event, the community rebuilt and consolidated its structures in the safer upper areas of the mountain.
The Lourdeskapelle (Valzurkapelle) was built in 1897 by Schranz, the pastor of Galtür. The chapel stands in the hamlet and is named after the Marian shrine of Lourdes. Franz Anton Pöll, called Pöllele, a farmer from Valzur, made the first ascent of the Fluchthorn on 12 July 1861 with the Swiss mountaineer and writer Johann Jakob Weilenmann.
Valzur lies on the right bank of the Trisanna, about 1 km beyond Mathon on the road toward Galtür, with the commercial zone Valzur above at the Silvrettastraße. The whole area down-valley of the hamlet is designated a red avalanche danger zone. Untervalzur was largely destroyed in 1999; the rebuilt houses stand in the protected area of Obervalzur.
The avalanche that buried Untervalzur on 24 February 1999 came down the gully of the Innerer Riefenbach, which drains into the Paznauntal east of the Muttenalpe, site of the Friedrichshafener Hütte, and the 2706 m Vertinesbleiskopf. It struck one day after the Galtür disaster and killed seven people; the destroyed houses were rebuilt in the protected area of Obervalzur.
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