Velenje Castle

Velenje, Slovenia

By form and function, PeleÅŸ is a palace, but it is consistently called a castle. Its architectural style is a romantically inspired blend Neo-Renaissance and Gothic Revival similar to Schloss Neuschwanstein inBavaria. A Saxon influence can be observed in the interior courtyard facades, which have allegorical hand-painted murals and ornate fachwerk similar to that seen in northern European alpine architecture. Interior decoration is mostly Baroque influenced, with heavy carved woods and exquisite fabrics.

PeleÅŸ Castle has a 3,200-square-metre (34,000 sq ft) floor plan with over 170 rooms, many with dedicated themes from world cultures (in a similar fashion as other Romanian palaces, like Cotroceni Palace). Themes vary by function (offices, libraries, armories, art galleries) or by style (Florentine, Turkish, Moorish, French, Imperial); all the rooms are extremely lavishly furnished and decorated to the slightest detail. There are 30 bathrooms. The establishment hosts one of the finest collections of art in Eastern and Central Europe, consisting of statues, paintings, furniture, arms and armor, gold, silver, stained glass, ivory, fine china, tapestries, and rugs.

The collection of arms and armor has over 4,000 pieces, divided between Eastern and Western war pieces and ceremonial or hunting pieces, spreading over four centuries of history. Oriental rugs come from many sources: Bukhara, Mosul, Isparta, Saruk, and Smirna. The porcelain is from Sèvres andMeissen; the leather is from Córdoba. Perhaps the most acclaimed items are the hand-painted stained glass vitralios, which are mostly Swiss.

A towering statue of King Carol I by Raffaello Romanelli overlooks the main entrance. Many other statues are present on the seven Italian neo-Renaissance terrace gardens, mostly of Carrara marble executed by the Italian sculptor Romanelli. The gardens also host fountains, urns, stairways, guarding lions, marble paths, and other decorative pieces.

PeleÅŸ Castle shelters a painting collection of almost 2,000 pieces.

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User Reviews

Eleftherios Kouvaritakis (3 years ago)
Nice view over the city. Leafy surrounding.
Mitja Mladkovic (3 years ago)
Beautiful castle with suraunding nateur and view.
Olga Lepeshkina (3 years ago)
Nice and well restored castle. Worth visiting if you are nearby.
Jure Knavs (3 years ago)
Nice place. Great view
Jose Zabkar (3 years ago)
The castle chapel, which was newly consecrated in 2016, is located in the north-west defence tower, which was given a new role in the 17th century. The chapel, where quite a few domestic noble daughters were married, displays statues by Ferdinand Gallo, the main representative of late baroque sacral plastic art in Slovenian Styria, and a painting of Janez Nepomuk. Its author is Janez Andrej Strauss from the well-known family of Strauss painters from Slovenj Gradec. The picture, the wooden plastics and the church ornamentation were all located in the old parish church of St. George in Škale until the beginning of 1950s. The church was demolished in 1957 due to coal mining and consequential sinking of the land. Some of the items that were housed here found a new place in the castle chapel.
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