Venosa, Italy
1470
Melfi, Italy
11th century
Avigliano, Italy
c. 1242-1250
Brienza, Italy
12th century
Miglionico, Italy
9th century AD
Cancellara, Italy
12th century
Valsinni, Italy
11th century
Bernalda, Italy
1470
Genzano di Lucania, Italy
11th century
Maratea, Italy
9th century AD
Muro Lucano, Italy
9th century AD
Pisticci, Italy
11th century
Brindisi Montagna, Italy
c. 1200
Grottole, Italy
9th century AD
Ferrandina, Italy
11th century
The Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg is situated in a strategic area on a rocky spur overlooking the Upper Rhine Plain, it was used by successive powers from the Middle Ages until the Thirty Years' War when it was abandoned. From 1900 to 1908 it was rebuilt at the behest of the German kaiser Wilhelm II. Today it is a major tourist site, attracting more than 500,000 visitors a year.
The first records of a castle built by the Hohenstaufens date back to 1147. The fortress changed its name to Koenigsburg (royal castle) around 1157. The castle was handed over to the Tiersteins by the Habsburgs following its destruction in 1462. They rebuilt and enlarged it, installing a defensive system designed to withstand artillery fire.
The fortification work accomplished over the 15th century did not suffice to keep the Swedish artillery at bay during the Thirty Years War, and the defences were overrun.