Herzogstuhl

The Herzogstuhl near Maria Saal is a stone throne made from recycled Roman masonry on which the Dukes of Carinthia were invested in an unusual ceremony from the 7th century until 1414. The ritual was conducted in Slovenian and required the duke to approach in peasant’s clothes while a commoner challenged his right to the land: a medieval concept of legitimacy rooted in the land rather than in birth. Free and always accessible. By car from Klagenfurt (10 km north on the B83). Combine with the Maria Saal pilgrimage church immediately adjacent, which has Roman relief stones embedded in its outer walls.