Tourist Atractions

The Mura River

The Mura River originates in Austria, within the Hohe Tauern National Park, at an altitude of 1,898 meters, descending about 1,700 meters to Prekmurje. It stretches 465 kilometers and flows through four countries: Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and Hungary. In Austria, it covers 323 kilometers, with a 34-kilometer border section with Austria, 28 kilometers across Slovenian territory, 33 kilometers between Slovenia and Croatia, and about 48 kilometers between Hungary and Croatia.

The current state of the Mura is the result of numerous historical interventions. The river basin in Slovenia was historically divided into Hungarian and Austrian sections, where the cultures of Germans, Slavs, and Hungarians meet. The first measures on the Mura, dating back to the 16th century, aimed to protect settlements from floods and ensure river navigation. The Mura often changed its course, destroying villages, especially towards the north.

Today, the Mura is mostly confined to an artificial channel, reducing its lateral erosion power. In some places, where the banks are not reinforced with artificial materials, the river still reveals its natural character. In the Lisjakova Struga, lateral erosion creates a small meander, where the Mura erodes material on the outer side and deposits it on the inner side, forming a small island.

The pebbles carried by the Mura originate from the Eastern Alps, where metamorphic and igneous rocks, such as gneiss, granite, vein quartz, and amphibolite, prevail. The Mura River is the only major Slovenian river that still partly retains its natural dynamics. Meanders, oxbows, gravel bars, and floodplain forests form a rich ecosystem – the loko.