Myra Falls

關於

The Myra Falls (German: Myrafälle or rarer: Mirafälle; always pronounced with a German "i") are located in a ravine in the municipality of Muggendorf in the Austrian federal state of Lower Austria (N.B. not to be confused with the Mira Falls (Mirafall) 50 km (31 mi) 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 at the Myra Falls, that was in operation until 1974/1975.

The actual ravine with the falls is about 600 metres (2,000 ft) long; its height difference is 70 metres (230 ft). The gorge runs from north to south and is protected as a natural monument. The subsoil of the gorge is limestone. The Myrabach falls in several cascades through the gorge. At the upper and lower end the water is impounded into a small pond.

內容改寫自 Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。照片來自 Wikimedia Commons.