Category: Castles & palaces

How to reach Castle Tures

Castel Tures – “Burg Taufers” in German – perfectly fits the scenery in which it is located, as the high mountains of the valley serve as background. It rises on a natural elevation belonging to Acereto (Ahornach) in the municipality of Valle Aurina (Ahrntal) at 957 m a.s.l. In succession of a “Castel Tobl” in 1100 AD, the name of Castel Tures was mentioned for the first time in 1225. In the first half of the 14th century the Lords of Tures were in possession of the castle, but when the last member of the family died in 1349 the castle continually deteriorated.

The Romanic part of the castle – the donjon, the residential tower with double arched windows and the chapel – dates back to this time. Only under the Dukes of Austria, the castle was expanded in the 15th century – buildings such as the lavatorium, drawbridges and wall walks were added. Ludwig Lobmayr renovated the castle for the first time in the early 20th century. In 1945, however, Hieronymus Gassner provided for maintenance works.

Today the South Tyrolean Castle Institute, founded in 1963, is in possession of Castle Tures. For the most part the castle is open to the public. The furniture in the 64 rooms is near-completely intact and old tiled stoves heat the residential rooms. Pine panelling, frescos by Friedrich Pacher in the chapel, armoires dating back to different eras, armaments and a huge library provide a special insight into the history of the castle.

Summer opening hours: (from June 2 to November 3, 2019)
June 2 – July 6, 2019:
guided tours daily at 10 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 3.15 pm and 4.30 pm (in German or Italian language)
July 7 – Aug 31, 2019:
guided tours daily between 10 am and 5 pm (in German or Italian language)
Tuesdays and Thursdays also evening tour at 9 pm
Sept 1 – Nov 3, 2019:
guided tours daily at 10 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 3.15 pm and 4.30 pm (in German or Italian language)

Winter opening hours: (from November 4, 2019, to June 1, 2020)
Nov 4 – Dec 7, 2019:
guided tours daily at 3 pm (in German language)
Dec 8, 2019 – June 1, 2020:
guided tours daily at 10 am and 3 pm (in German language)
1 hour later always in Italian language
on Dec 24 closed in the afternoon
on Dec 25 and Jan 1 closed in the morning

Admission:
exterior (only from Apr 20 – Nov 3, 2019):
6.00 Euros (adults), free for kids under 5 years
3.00 Euros (children and young people from 6 to 14 years)

guided visit, interior:
10.00 Euros (adults), free for kids under 5 years
5.00 Euros (children and young people from 6 to 14 years)
family ticket available (26.00 Euros)
family reduction: free for every 3rd child
free with the Museumcard or museumobil Card

Contact:
Castle Tures
Ahornach 1
Campo Tures
+39 0474-678053 oder +39 340-8690168

How to reach the castle Lamprechtsburg

The origins of the castle Lamprechtsburg in Reischach, South Tyrol, date back to the 11th century. The wooden construction of the time was later replaced by a simple stone fortification, which has survived to this day. The Lamprechtsburg consists of a kennel, the tower, the palace and the chapel. It is completely enclosed by a circular wall.

However, its location is impressive. It sits picturesquely on a mountain ledge above the Rienzschlucht gorge. However, it is easily accessible by roads and footpaths.

Today the Lamprechtsburg is privately owned and houses an inn in the old palace. A visit is definitely worthwhile!

How to reach Castles Rotund and Reichenberg

From the village of Tubre in Val Monastero in the Venosta Valley they are clearly visible, the ruins of the castles Reichenberg and Rotund. They have been enthroned above the valley since the year 900, attracting curious onlookers and adventurers who want to see the remaining buildings.

Around 900 the bishops of Chur gave the order to build the castles Rotund and Reichenberg, because they wanted to use them as residences. Built on steep hills, it overlooks large parts of the Val Müstair. However, after some time the castle complexes were sold and over the years the owners changed again and again until they were completely abandoned.

Rotund Castle:
High up at 1500 m is Rotund Castle, which was one of the highest castles in Tyrol due to its location. In the middle of the 12th century Rotund Castle passed to the nobles of Rotund until it was sold to Henrich von Reichenberg in 1310. In the course of their time the castle changed its owners again and again, so the barons von Schlandersberg and von Hendl appear in documents. In the 15th century the castle was renovated and repaired, until it was no longer inhabited at the end of the 17th century and left to decay. The last lord of the castle was Baron von Heydorf.

Reichenberg Castle:
Reichenberg Castle is also situated on a steep slope, but it is below Rotund Castle. Originally owned by the bishops of Chur, this castle complex fell into the hands of the lords of Reichenberg, robber knights, who spread fear and terror, in the middle of the 12th century. At the end of the 17th century, in 1680, this castle complex was also abandoned and left to its fate. Today the ruins can be visited from the outside, as large parts of the castle complex have fallen into ruins, only the keep is well preserved.

Opening hours:
all-season:
Inspection only possible from the outside

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Contact:
Castles Rotund and Reichenberg
39024, Tubre in Val Monastero
+39 0473-833046

How to reach Tschenglsburg Castle 

Tschenglsburg Castle, also known as Fuchsburg, remains a unitary building complex despite its different construction periods. At its entrance, there is the great entrance portal dating from the year 1000, with a keystone in the white marble arch engraved with the family coat of arms. The castle was privatized in 1860 and is today a popular cultural tavern.

Opening hours:
All-season
10am – 11pm (Mondays closed)

Contact:
Tschenglsburg Castle
Cengles
39023, Cengles
+39 320-0829165

How to reach Churburg Castle

Churburg Castle rises above Sluderno in the sunny Venosta Valley between the Passo Resia and Merano: one of the best preserved castles in South Tyrol with the largest private armoury and a fairytale arcade walkway.

History:
We first encounter the name of the castle in a document issued by Bishop Heinrich on 21 February 1259 in “Curberch”. The name and the location of the castle at the entrance to the Matsch valley, where the reeves of Matsch had their ancestral castle, make it certain that the Churburg was the castle that the bishop had been allowed to build “frey unhindered” shortly before.
The buildings of the Romanesque period The oldest core of the complex consists of the keep on the hill side, the palace built south of it on a rectangular ground plan and the ring wall enclosing a spacious courtyard. After its destruction in 1358, only the foundation walls of the former front tower, called Pfaffeneck, along which the old castle path runs, were preserved.
The buildings of the Gothic period The complex retained its high medieval appearance until the early 16th century. With the change of ownership at the beginning of the 16th century, extensive conversions and new buildings began, such as the outer courtyard, the garden terraces and the kennel. Further residential buildings were added between the palace and the keep, grouped around a spacious inner courtyard, the first floor of which accommodates an arcaded corridor. The palace was raised by a firewall and provided with a battlemented wreath; an oriel on the south side and a late Gothic parlour on the ground floor were added.
In the 2nd half of the 16th century, the old castle was transformed into a magnificent Renaissance castle. The 18th century saw the construction and extension of the third palace floor as a guest wing with biblical wallpaper pictures and glazed tiled stoves. The staircase to the “Matscher Saal” replaces an earlier one, which had connected the arcade with the third floor of the northern wing.

Opening hours:
Guided tours only.
March 20- October 31 2019:
Tuesday – Sunday: 10am – 12 o’clock & 2 -4.30pm
Guided tours every 15 minutes.

Contact:
Churburg Castle
Churburg 1
39020 Sluderno
+39 0473 615241

How to reach Castle ruin Lichtenberg

Lichtenberg enchanted. Surrounded by 14 three-thousand-metre peaks, the castle ruin is one of the most impressive and art-historically valuable sights in South Tyrol.

The extensive complex from the beginnings of the 13th century was owned by the Counts of Tyrol until 1513. The freely accessible castle ruins in the upper Vinschgau are still owned by the Counts Khuen-Belasi. The castle complex in the Vinschgau, which can also be reached on foot from Prad, captivates visitors with its size and a magnificent cycle of frescoes, most of which can only be seen in the Innsbruck Ferdinandeum Museum.

 

How to reach the Rio Pusteria Fortress

The Rio Pusteria Fortress can be found at the entrance to the Val Pusteria, between the villages of Rio Pusteria and Vandoies. The fortress is directly located along the main road, also the Pusterbike Cycle Route runs past this impressive place of interest. Exactly in this place, the borderline between the countships of Goerz and Tyrol ran in 1271. For this reason Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia, had a dam built, that is to say the castle-like Rio Pusteria Fortress.

Actually the original building was located 600 m in the west of the present-day location and consisted of a long-drawn-out barrage as well as two turrets. The ancient fortress was built according to the model of Mediaeval dam. The construction material consisted of natural and homogeneously-sized river stones, which were hardly modified. The last documents regarding this building are dated 1340.

The newly-built construction, that is by the way preserved still today, bears the hallmarks of Sigismund, Archduke of Austria. The fortress is decorated by round turrets, while a dam stretches up the forested slope. In fact, the Rio Pusteria Fortress not only used to be a toll station, but was also residential building and dam. The building can be visited in a guided tour in summer months, often it is also venue for theatre performances or other events.

Contact:
Rio Pusteria Fortress
Sonnleitenstr. 30
39037 Rio di Pusteria
+39 0472-886048

How to reach Rodenegg Castle

The history of this impenetrable fortress, built on a rocky pinnacle over the Rienza Gorge, makes a visit to Rodenegg Castle an adventure for the whole family. Built in the first half of the 12th century as a defensive fortress, the family of the Counts of Wolkenstein gave the castle its current
form in the 16th century. Chivalrous stories of knights and the ancient atmosphere of the castle inspire the fantasy of little adventurers. Of interest are also the tales and facts surrounding the trial of the infamous Matthias Perger, the so called “Lauterfresser”, who was convicted of witchcraft in 1645 at Rodenegg Castle. There is a tour through the castle which leads visitors to the impressive medieval fresco in the drinking hall, that was only just discovered in 1972.

Opening hours:
May – October 15 2019:
Sunday – Friday 11.30am- 2.30pm

Note: Guided tour only

Price:

Adults	8,00 €
Groups	6,00 €
Children up to 18 years	4,00€
Children up to 10 years	3,00€

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Contact:
Rodenegg Castle
Vill 1
Rodeneck
+39 0472-454056

The castle, which formed part of the Vicarage of Corzes/Kortsch, was ceded as part of a feudal exchange by the Diocese of Frisinga to the Bavarian Counts of Moosburg. Today, all that remains is a tower with frescoes.

On the eastern edge of the small village of Lasa are the remains of a medieval residence. Of the original building, only a square residential tower with an edge length of 5.2 metres and a wall thickness of 0.65 metres has survived, which on its eastern side has the remains of a coat of arms fresco (royal eagle and golden fleece and four small coats of arms, shield, Tyrol, Austria, Burgundy and the year 1497) and whose defensive plate is crowned by swallowtail battlements. It was later integrated into a complex of buildings. On the opposite, northern side of the street stands an old residential building, which was apparently connected to the residential tower for a long time and formed a unit of ownership with it. Perhaps it was even connected to the tower by a wooden bridge on the upper floor.
Different statements exist about the name of the estate. While the residential tower is almost unanimously named Eyrsburg, the term Moosburg is used either for the opposite residential building, for the complex of tower and residential building, but also as an alternative to Eyrsburg.

How to reach the Imperial Palace

The courtyard of the Imperial Palace with its Renaissance loggias in the South and North, with closed Baroque façades in the East and West, the old palace gate and the Baroque marble door and the tower of the Imperial church, is one of the most atmospheric castle courtyards in South Tyrol.

The Diocesan museum housed in the Imperial Palace has 70 exhibition rooms which showcase the art collection ranging from valuable medieval sculptures and panels to modern art, the Bressanone Cathedral treasures, the Imperial wing with the majolica stoves, historic furniture and Vienna china, the Bishop’s wing and the Baroque chapel. On the ground floor visitors can see a diorama of the Christian year with 5000 figures, which was ordered by Prince Bishop Karl Franz of Lodron for his rooms in the Imperial Palace. The nativity sets collection is completed by Christmas nativities from Bressanone, Tyrol, Naples and Sicily.

Opening hours:
15. March – 31. October 2019
Tuesday – Sunday
10 am – 5 pm
Good Friday, 19. April 2019
10 am – 2 pm

Prices:

Imperial Palace and crib collection:
Adults	8,00 €
Seniors aged 65 and over	6,00 €
Groups of 10 or more people	6,00€
Students up to 27 years	6,00€
Students and children 13 years and older	2,50€
Children up to 12 years (accompanied by parents)	free entry

only crib collection:
Adults	5,00 €
Groups of 10 or more people	4,00 €
Students up to 27 years	4,00€
Students and children 13 years and older	2,00€
Children up to 12 years (accompanied by parents)	free entry

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Note: Free entry with the BrixenCard, MuseumobilCard and MuseumCard

Contact:
Hofburgplatz / Piazza Palazzo Vescovile 2
39042 Brixen / Bressanone
[email protected]
www.hofburg.it
39 0472 830505