City on the Magdalensberg

The City on the Magdalensberg is an archaeological site on the Magdalensberg hill in Carinthia, Austria, showing successive Celtic and Roman occupation. The site contains visible terraces, building platforms and other remains that document an Iron Age settlement later reworked under Roman influence.

Visitors encounter exposed foundations, terracing and archaeological features rather than large standing monuments, with many important finds recovered from the site now conserved and exhibited in local museums. The layout reflects a hilltop settlement with streets, terraces and public areas adapted across cultural phases.

The settlement originated in the late Iron Age and entered a Romanised phase in the Roman period as administrative and residential structures were added. Excavations over the 19th and 20th centuries uncovered architectural remains and portable artifacts that illuminate the site’s Celtic origins and Roman transformation.

Magdalensberg rises above the Zollfeld plain in Carinthia; the archaeological area sits on the hill itself and is accessed from nearby towns and rural roads within the Carinthia region.

• Excavated finds on display: Archaeological remains on the hill are best seen alongside the finds exhibited in regional museums, which preserve sculptural and everyday objects from the excavations.