Zell am See
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Turist information
History
Zell am See was already populated in Roman times. In 740 AD, by order of the Archbishop Johannes (John) of Salzburg, monks founded the village "Cella in Bisonzio". Zell received the rights of a market town in 1357, and its city rights on January 24, 1928.
Location and climate
The valley of Zell is a corridor in the middle of the Austrian Alps between the Saalach and the Salzach rivers. The lake is the 68-metre (223 ft) deep Lake Zell, with Zell am See's "Altstadt" (or Old Town) in the west, and with the villages of Thumersbach to the east, Erlberg to the southeast, and Schüttdorf directly to the south. Zell am Zee is approximately 100 kilometres to the east of Innsbruck and 30 kilometers the north of Großglockner.
Tourist attractions
Within St. Hippolyte's Church are the oldest known building remnants of the Pinzgau region. The church is built in a mostly Romanesque style and consists of three naves. Before 1794, the central nave was crowned with a Gothic vault, but in that year it was replaced with another vault, which in turn was replaced by a flat wooden roof in 1898. The tower is the main focus of the Zell am See skyline. It has a height of 36 metres. The strong walls have a limestone exterior.
Surroundings
The original Lake Zell reached somewhat further to the north and extended south to the Salzach river. The dimensions of the lake, however, haved changed over time into marsh areas. The lake has the shape of a peanut, with an area of 4.7 square kilometres (1.8 sq mi). The mountains of the area form a horseshoe shape and are mainly forested or agricultural fields. The "Hausberg" or home mountain of Zell am See is the Schmittenhöhe(1.965 metres), which is part of the Salzburg Greywacke zone (or slate Alps). The Schmittenhöhe is a popular center for winter sports. The nearby "Hundstein" (or "Dog Stone") at 2,117 metres (6,946 ft) is the highest peak of the Salzburg Grewacke Zone.