Most beautiful castles in Slovenia
Slovenia is rich in castles and fortified manor houses. Many of them are located on a beautiful mountain peak or lake shore scenery like the glorious Bled castle and rare Predjama castle built within a cave mouth.
Ljubljana Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright Lorenzo L M.
Ljubljana Castle stands above the downtown of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Originally a Medieval fortress, probably built in the 11th century and rebuilt in the 12th century, it acquired its present outline with an almost complete overhaul in the 15th century, whereas the majority of the buildings date to the 16th and 17th centuries. At first a defense structure and since the first half of the 14th century the seat of the lords of Carniola, it was since the early 19th century used as a penitentiary, then in the first half of the 20th century as a residential complex and in the latest ti ...
Bled Castle
Bled Castle is built on a precipice above the city of Bled in Slovenia, overlooking Lake Bled. According to written sources, it is the oldest Slovenian castle and is currently one of the most visited tourist attractions in Slovenia.
The history of the castle reaches back to 1004 when the German Emperor Henry II gave his estate at Bled to Bishop Albuin of Brixen. At that time, only a Romanesque tower protected by walls stood in the place of the present day castle. The first castle was built in approximately 1011 but the Bishops of Brixen never resided there. This is precisely why the castle ha ...
Predjama Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright Shadowgate
Predjama Castle is a Renaissance castle built within a cave mouth in the historical region of Inner Carniola. The castle was first mentioned in the year 1274 with the German name Luegg, when the Patriarch of Aquileia built the castle in Gothic style. The castle was built under a natural rocky arch high in the stone wall to make access to it difficult. It was later acquired and expanded by the Luegg noble family, also known as the Knights of Adelsberg (the German name of Postojna).
The castle became known as the seat of the knight Erazem Lueger, lord of the castle in the 15th century and a ren ...
Celje Castle
Celje Castle was once the largest fortification on Slovenian territory. The first fortified building on the site (a Romanesque palace) was built in the first half of the 13th century by the Counts of Heunburg from Carinthia on the stony outcrop on the western side of the ridge where the castle stands. It had five sides, or four plus the southern side, which was a natural defence. The first written records of the castle date back to between 1125 and 1137; it was probably built by Count Gunter. In the western section of the castle, there was a building with several floors. Remains of the walls o ...
Zuzemberk Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright giuseppegiramondo
One of the most picturesque castles in Slovenia, Žužemberk Castle originated in the 13th century but acquired its present shape during the 16th century when its defences were reinforced with seven huge round towers. From 1538 until World War II, it was owned by the Auersperg family of Turjak. The castle was badly damaged during World War II and restoration work has been ongoing ever since. Every Summer the castle"s inner courtyard hosts a programme of open-air concerts and plays.
Otocec Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright Infoturismiamoci
Otočec Castle is a castle hotel on a small island in the middle of the Krka River. It is the only water castle in Slovenia and one of the most picturesque images in the country and is a prominent cultural and natural monument.
The castle was first mentioned in documents in the 13th century, although the walls are said to date to the more precise date of 1252. It was once owned by Ivan Lenković, the chief commander of the Croatia-Slavonia march.
Over the centuries that followed the castle underwent architectural and ownership changes, passing from one noble family to another.
Medieval stru ...
Little Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright Blaz Purnat
Little Castle (Mali grad) in Kamnik was constructed in the 11th or early 12th century at the strategic site above the narrow passage near an important trail. The Romanesque chapel of St. Eligius is one of the most important Slovene medieval monuments, despite later alterations, and is one of the oldest of its kind in Europe. The chapel features a wooden ceiling and exquisite fresco paintings.
Archaeological evidence indicates a cultic centre here in pre-Antiquity. The castle was first mentioned in 1202, but is of older origin. At the end of the 13th century, the castle burned; the northeast p ...
Sneznik Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright Domen Jakus
Snežnik Castle construction time is unclear; its existence is first implied in 1269, by way of mention of its owner Meinhard von Schneberg. The castle itself was first mentioned in 1461, at the time it was a possession of the Patriarchate of Aquileia, with the Schnebergs as their ministeriales. In 1393, a quarter-share of it and several neighboring farms was purchased by William II von Lamberg, a relative of the Schnebergs; his descendants increased their share through the 15th century until they owned the entire estate, giving the castle its more-or-less current renaissance appearance as wel ...
Slovenska Bistrica Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright Alessandra47 D.G.
The predecessor of the current Slovenska Bistrica castle is first mentioned in 1265, when emperor Rudolf gave it and the adjoining town in fief to count (from 1286 duke of Carinthia) Meinhard of Gorizia. In 1313, it passed to the Habsburgs, who leased the castle and town to the noble house of Walsee. After 1368, the lordship was obtained by the counts of Celje; after their extinction in 1456 it reverted to the ducal lands. In 1587, the town and castle were bought by Hans Vetter; in 1717 the castle only was sold to the counts Attems, who retained until the end of World War II, when it was natio ...
Gewerkenegg Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright Paul McClure DC
Gewerkenegg Castle dominates the Idrija city. It was erected at the beginning of the 16th century to serve as the administrative headquarters and warehouse of the Idrija mine, then the second largest mercury mine in the world. The now beautifully restored Renaissance complex experienced a Baroque renovation in the middle of the 18th century when the inner arcaded courtyard was created and painted with attractive decorative frescoes.
The castle now houses the Idrija Museum, whose central exhibit-Five Centuries of Mercury Mining and the Town of Idrija-offers a survey of the half-millennium hist ...
Branik Castle
Branik Castle, also known as Rihemberk Castle, is a 13th-century castle above the village of Branik. Fortified settlements have been present on the hill since prehistoric times; the site was once occupied by a Roman castrum. The date of the founding of the castle is unclear, but the noble house of Rihemberk is first recorded in 1230, originating from Riffenstein in Tyrol (now the castle of Reifenstein in Freienfeld, northern Italy). The family received substantial properties in fief from the Counts of Gorizia, including estates in the Vipava Valley, the Kras plateau, in the outskirts of the to ...
Mokrice Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright Alessandra47 D.G.
Mokrice Castle is located on a hill in the northern part of the settlement of Rajec near the Croatian border. First mentioned in 1444, it was rebuilt in the 16th century and in 1941.
The beginnings of the design of the castle garden belong to the period of late Baroque in the 18th century: a symmetrically regular axial scheme was arranged south of the castle. The Baroque stone statues of the Four Seasons, Baroquicised Castle Chapel of St. Anne and the gate portal in the axis of the park have been preserved. In the beginning of the 19th century the garden was redone in English landscape style. ...
Gracar Turn Castle
The Gracar Turn ('Grätzer"s Tower') is not recorded in medieval sources, though the historian Valvasor mentions a manor stood on the site in the 14th century, built by the Grätzer family from nearby Gradac, whence its name derives. After passing through numerous hands, it was purchased by Anton Rudež in 1821. The author Janez Trdina was often Rudež"s guest at Gracar Turn; several of the former"s works were written at the castle, including his best-known, Fables and Tales of the Gorjancers. During World War II part the castle was burned down by partisan figh ...
Turjak Castle
Photo from Flickr, copyright Alessandra47 D.G.
Turjak Castle is a 13th-century fairly well known castle in Slovenia and one of the most impressive in the area. The first Turjak castle was built on the site as early as the late 11th century by the knights (later counts) von Auersperg. It may have been extant by 1062, the date the family (specifically Konrad von Auersperg) is first mentioned. In 1140, it was destroyed and burned during a succession struggle between the two heirs of Pilgram II von Auersperg, his son Pilgram IV and his son-in-law Otto von Ortenburg. The castle was held by Pilgram IV, who was defeated.
In 1190 it was rebuilt b ...