Platte

The Platte is a hill roughly 651 meters (about 2,136 feet) high in Graz's Mariatrost district, rising some 250 meters above the valley of the Mariatroster Bach. Together with the neighboring Pfangberg, it forms a small massif that is open to visitors and offers a sweeping panorama over the city. The centerpiece of the summit is the Stephanienwarte, a historic tower originally built in 1880 in a blend of Renaissance and Neo-Baroque styles. Constructed of mortared quarry stone and red brick and named after Crown Prince Rudolf's fiancée, it now houses a modern environmental and air quality monitoring station. You can reach the top on foot or by bike, and there is also road access by car as far as a parking lot on the Hinterer Plattenweg. Since 2010, the tower has been freely accessible and is run by the Austrian Alpine Club, which protects the area from development.