Petzen (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

) or Peca ( Slovene) is the highest mountain of the eastern

Karawanks The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks ( sl, Karavanke; german: Karawanken, ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: ...

, the second-highest mountain of the Northern Karawanks and the most eastern two-thousand-metre mountain of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. It is a mighty mountain with a characteristic shape of a tableland with rocky peaks protruding from it. The mountain borders the Meža Valley and the Topla Valley to the south and east, and the Jaun Valley to the north, and is separated by the narrow valley of the Bela Creek from Hochobir. Two thirds of the mountain lies in Austria, and one third in Slovenia. The mountain reaches its highest

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

on the mountain crest of the Kordež Head (Slovene: , German: , ). The border runs across it. The mountain is built of

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

Wetterstein limestone The Wetterstein Formation is a regional geologic formation of the Northern Limestone Alps and Western Carpathians extending from southern Bavaria, Germany in the west, through northern Austria to northern Hungary and western Slovakia in the east. ...

and

Wetterstein dolomite The Wetterstein Formation is a regional geologic formation of the Northern Limestone Alps and Western Carpathians extending from southern Bavaria, Germany in the west, through northern Austria to northern Hungary and western Slovakia in the east. ...

. In the past,

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

was mined on Peca, the shafts belonging to the Topla and Mežica mines. The lead-zinc ore occurs in Middle to

Upper Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch of the Triassic Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch and followed by the Early Jurassic Epoch. ...

carbonate rocks Carbonate rocks are a class of sedimentary rocks composed primarily of carbonate minerals. The two major types are limestone, which is composed of calcite or aragonite (different crystal forms of CaCO3), and dolomite rock (also known as doloston ...

deposited in an

anoxic The term anoxia means a total depletion in the level of oxygen, an extreme form of hypoxia or "low oxygen". The terms anoxia and hypoxia are used in various contexts: * Anoxic waters, sea water, fresh water or groundwater that are depleted of diss ...

supratidal marine environment, similar to other Mississippi Valley-type lead-zinc ores. In addition to the ore, several rare minerals were discovered underground in the mountain, such as

wulfenite Wulfenite is a lead molybdate mineral with the formula Pb Mo O4. It can be most often found as thin tabular crystals with a bright orange-red to yellow-orange color, sometimes brown, although the color can be highly variable. In its yellow form ...

and

calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

. A mine on the mountain is accessible to mountain bikes. The lower slopes on the Slovenian side are forested, whereas the higher slopes are home to a variety of

Alpine flora Alpine flora may refer to: * Alpine tundra, a community of plants that live at high altitude * Alpine plant Alpine plants are plants that grow in an alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. There are many different pl ...

, including several species of flowers A

mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located high in the mountains, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an Alpine Club or some organization d ...

was built at Little Peca (Slovene: ; ) in 1928, which was burnt down during World War II, and rebuilt in 1957. Since 1936, the chapel of Sts. Cyril and Methodius stands next to it. The beginning of an abandoned pit, named Matjaž Cave after

King Matjaž King Matjaž/Mátyás/Matijaš ( sl, Kralj Matjaž, hu, Mátyás király, hr, Kralj Matijaš) is a legendary king in Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia and in some other countries, based on pre-Christian traditions of Carantania and in course of centu ...

, is situated in the vicinity, which is a historical monument. Inside it, there is a bronze statue of the sleeping king. The statue was designed in 1958 by the sculptor and mountaineer

Marjan Keršič Marjan Keršič aka Belač ( sl, Marjan Keršič - Belač) (18 May 1920 – 3 June 2003) was a Slovenian sculptor and mountaineer. Sculpture Keršič was a student of Boris Kalin. He graduated in 1949 at the Ljubljana Academy of Arts. From 1962 ...

, cast in bronze by the sculptor France Rotar, and placed in the cave in 1962.

References

External links

{{commons category, Petzen * http://www.petzen.net/ * Hribi.net :
Peca/Petzen (Kordež Head)
VR panorama (surround photography). Hribi.net. Retrieved 12 March 2012. Karawanks Mountains of the Alps Austria–Slovenia border International mountains of Europe Mountains of Carinthia (Slovenia) Mountains of Carinthia (state) Natura 2000 in Slovenia Two-thousanders of Austria Two-thousanders of Slovenia