Casteldoria Castle

Santa Maria Coghinas, Italy

Casteldoria Castle was built around the 12th century by the Genoese Doria family, and passed from the Genoese dominion to the Aragonese, then to the Arborea Giudicato and lastly to the Malaspina family.

Only a few ruins remain of the fortress: parts of the walls, the remains of a chapel and a large cistern that was probably used to collect and store water. The famous tower, on the other hand, is well-preserved, and is an important part of the castle, built in large, rectangular granite blocks set in mortar. Twenty metres high, it has a pentagonal layout with the entrance on the north-eastern side. On the same side are two large, non-aligned openings, and a large window on the opposite side on the first floor. Inside, the castle has three wooden floors with a tiled roof and walkway. The last floor was created from what was originally a mezzanine floor before a terrace.

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Santa Maria Coghinas, Italy
See all sites in Santa Maria Coghinas

Details

Founded: 12th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in Italy

More Information

www.sardegnaturismo.it

Rating

4.1/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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User Reviews

Alek Hojnik (5 months ago)
A nice five sided castle/tower in the middle of the forest. It gazes with pride toward the sky and makes you envision the people living there. It has 5 levels, but as it is in renovation, you can't enter. Still, the place offers some great views towards the coast and the small lake below. The road and the parking are well maintained. The path is a bit step, recommend sneakers or other shoes with firm grip as the grawel gets slippery.
Barnabas Hamerlik (11 months ago)
Wonderful view and panorama of the surrounding nature from the tower. Worth climbing up the steep ladders.
Timothy Black (2 years ago)
Abandoned castle on a neat ridge. About a 15 minute hike up a gravel road. Nothing much around except the tower, and it doesn't seem to be a popular place for tourist, which is nice if you like getting of the beaten path.
Marco Galbiati Stella (2 years ago)
Spectacular views above a beautiful, wild canyon (only sad thing, a horrible hotel built right at the beginning of the canyon. An eyesore, happily not visible anymore once you're in the canyon, nor from the tower)
Huib (4 years ago)
Nice for quick stop
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Glimmingehus

Glimmingehus is the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. It was built 1499-1506, during an era when Scania formed a vital part of Denmark, and contains many defensive arrangements of the era, such as parapets, false doors and dead-end corridors, 'murder-holes' for pouring boiling pitch over the attackers, moats, drawbridges and various other forms of death traps to surprise trespassers and protect the nobles against peasant uprisings. The lower part of the castle's stone walls are 2.4 meters (94 inches) thick and the upper part 1.8 meters (71 inches).

Construction was started in 1499 by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand and stone-cutter-mason and architect Adam van Düren, a North German master who also worked on Lund Cathedral. Construction was completed in 1506.

Ulfstand was a councillor, nobleman and admiral serving under John I of Denmark and many objects have been uncovered during archeological excavations that demonstrate the extravagant lifestyle of the knight's family at Glimmingehus up until Ulfstand's death in 1523. Some of the most expensive objects for sale in Europe during this period, such as Venetian glass, painted glass from the Rhine district and Spanish ceramics have been found here. Evidence of the family's wealth can also be seen inside the stone fortress, where everyday comforts for the knight's family included hot air channels in the walls and bench seats in the window recesses. Although considered comfortable for its period, it has also been argued that Glimmingehus was an expression of "Knighthood nostalgia" and not considered opulent or progressive enough even to the knight's contemporaries and especially not to later generations of the Scanian nobility. Glimmingehus is thought to have served as a residential castle for only a few generations before being transformed into a storage facility for grain.

An order from Charles XI to the administrators of the Swedish dominion of Scania in 1676 to demolish the castle, in order to ensure that it would not fall into the hands of the Danish king during the Scanian War, could not be executed. A first attempt, in which 20 Scanian farmers were ordered to assist, proved unsuccessful. An additional force of 130 men were sent to Glimmingehus to execute the order in a second attempt. However, before they could carry out the order, a Danish-Dutch naval division arrived in Ystad, and the Swedes had to abandon the demolition attempts. Throughout the 18th century the castle was used as deposit for agricultural produce and in 1924 it was donated to the Swedish state. Today it is administered by the Swedish National Heritage Board.

On site there is a museum, medieval kitchen, shop and restaurant and coffee house. During summer time there are several guided tours daily. In local folklore, the castle is described as haunted by multiple ghosts and the tradition of storytelling inspired by the castle is continued in the summer events at the castle called "Strange stories and terrifying tales".

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