When about 740 Prince Boruth enlisted the aid of Duke Odilo of Bavaria against the invading Avars , he had to accept Bavarian overlordship . An 878 deed of donation , issued by the Carolingian ruler Carloman of Bavaria , mentioned a bridge ( '' ad pontem Uillach '' ) near the royal court of Treffen , in what is today Villach . In 979 Emperor Otto II enfeoffed Bishop Albuin of Brixen with the Villach manor . After his death , King Henry II in 1007 ceded the settlement to the newly established Bishopric of Bamberg . The bishops also held the adjacent estates along the strategically important route to Italy up to Pontafel , which they retained until 1759 while the surrounding Carinthian ducal lands passed to the Austrian House of Habsburg in 1335 . Villach received market rights in 1060 , though it was not mentioned as a town in records until about 1240 . The parish church dedicated to St. Jacob was first documented in 1136 . Emperor Frederick II conferred the citizens the right to hold an annual fair on the feast of 25 July ( '' Jakobitag '' ) in 1222 . The 1348 Friuli earthquake devastated large parts of the town , another devastating earthquake occurred in 1690 . There were also several fires in Villach , which destroyed many buildings . The first documented mayor took office in the 16th century
1348 Friuli earthquake
1348 Friuli earthquake
Villach