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The Myra Falls (german: Myrafälle or rarer: ''Mirafälle''; always pronounced with a German "i") are located in a ravine in the municipality of 
A well-developed and popular hiking trail leads through the gorge. It was built in 1885 by the Pernitz branch of the
/ref> and looked after them since then. There are two commemorative plaques at the entrance to the Myra Falls. The first recalls the ''"opening up of the falls and the construction of the ascents by the Pernitz Branch of the Ö. TC"''. The second panel is dedicated ''"to the memory of the visit to the Myra Falls on 19 September 1801 by His Majesty the Roman-German Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor, Francis II, Her Majesty Empress Maria Theresa, and by Their Imperial Highnesses, the Crown Prince Ferdinand Karl Leopold Joseph and Archduchess Maria Ludoica, donated by Aust. Tourist Club and the "Enzian" Alpine Society on 8 June 1902."'' There are restaurants at the top and bottom of the gorge. The entrance to the gorge may easily be reached on foot or by car (car park) and is located about north of the village of Muggendorf. The Myra ends shortly after the falls at Pernitz where it joins the Piesting.
File:Myrafall1.jpg, Walkway at the Myra Falls
File:Myrafall2.jpg, Footbridge over the Myra Falls
File:Myrafall3.jpg, Walkway at the Myra Falls
Photos and site plan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myra Falls Canyons and gorges of Austria WMyra Falls Waterfalls of Austria Gutenstein Alps Landforms of Lower Austria Tourist attractions in Lower Austria
The Myra Falls (german: Myrafälle or rarer: ''Mirafälle''; always pronounced with a German "i") are located in a ravine in the municipality of Muggendorf
Muggendorf is a municipality in the district of Wiener Neustadt-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, ...
in the Austrian federal state of Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
(N.B. not to be confused with the Mira Falls (''Mirafall'') farther west in the ''Ötschergräben''). The ravine has been cut by the ''Myrabach'', a small tributary of the Piesting.
The ''Myra'', as the stream is also known, rises at the foot of the Unterberg from the ''Myralucke'', a spring steeped in legend, that is fed by an underground lake. Although the Myra is only a few kilometres long, it used to power a large number of mills and sawmills in the Myra valley.
In 1899 plans were laid for ''"the exploitation of this waterfall for industrial purposes and thus the destruction of a natural beauty"''.
In 1912 Lord Oskar of Rosthorn (''Oskar Edler von Rosthorn'') built a small pumped-storage power station
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potenti ...
at the Myra Falls, that was in operation until 1974/1975.
The actual ravine with the falls is about long; its height difference is . The gorge runs from north to south and is protected as a natural monument. The subsoil of the gorge is limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
. The Myrabach falls in several cascades through the gorge. At the upper and lower end the water is impounded into a small pond
A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...
.
A well-developed and popular hiking trail leads through the gorge. It was built in 1885 by the Pernitz branch of the Austrian Tourist Club
The Austrian Tourist Club (german: Österreichische Touristenklub) or ÖTK is the second oldest and third largest Alpine club in Austria.
The foundation of the club goes back to an initiative by Gustav Jäger, publisher of ''Der Tourist'', the f ...
(''Österreichischer Touristenklub''), with 19 bridges and 8 ascents (opened: 9 August 1885)''Eröffnung der Myra-Wasserfälle.'' Badener Bezirks-Blatt, 6 August 1885, p. 3, lower righ/ref> and looked after them since then. There are two commemorative plaques at the entrance to the Myra Falls. The first recalls the ''"opening up of the falls and the construction of the ascents by the Pernitz Branch of the Ö. TC"''. The second panel is dedicated ''"to the memory of the visit to the Myra Falls on 19 September 1801 by His Majesty the Roman-German Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor, Francis II, Her Majesty Empress Maria Theresa, and by Their Imperial Highnesses, the Crown Prince Ferdinand Karl Leopold Joseph and Archduchess Maria Ludoica, donated by Aust. Tourist Club and the "Enzian" Alpine Society on 8 June 1902."'' There are restaurants at the top and bottom of the gorge. The entrance to the gorge may easily be reached on foot or by car (car park) and is located about north of the village of Muggendorf. The Myra ends shortly after the falls at Pernitz where it joins the Piesting.
Postage stamp
On 7 December 1977 theÖsterreichische Post
Österreichische Post is the company responsible for postal service in Austria. This company was established in 1999 after its split-off from the mail corporate division of the former state-owned PTT agency Post- und Telegraphenverwaltung ( de ...
brought out a definitive stamp
A definitive stamp is a postage stamp that is part of the regular issue of a country's stamps, available for sale by the post office for an extended period of time and designed to serve the everyday postal needs of the country. The term is used in ...
on this subject in their Austrian landscape series to the value of 20.00 shillings.
References
External links
* ''Mira (Fall der).'' — Franz Xavier Joseph Schweickhardt, ''Darstellung des Erzherzogthums Oesterreich unter der Ens €¦', Dritter Band, Viertel unter dem Wienerwald, Vienna 1831, p. 268 ffPhotos and site plan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myra Falls Canyons and gorges of Austria WMyra Falls Waterfalls of Austria Gutenstein Alps Landforms of Lower Austria Tourist attractions in Lower Austria