Brunnenburg ( it, Castel Fontana) is a 13th-century

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in the province of

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

, in northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

History

Schloss Brunnenburg is situated above the city of

Merano Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and '' comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeie ...

, on the outskirts of the municipality of Tirol. Originally built circa 1250, the castle was completely restored and updated in the mid-20th century by

Boris de Rachewiltz Boris de Rachewiltz (born as Luciano Baratti) (1926–1997) was an Italian-Russian Egyptologist and writer on Africa and the ancient world. Biography Boris de Rachewiltz, brother of the historian Igor de Rachewiltz,Walravens, Hartmut. ''In Mem ...

, an

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religiou ...

, and his wife Mary, daughter of the poet

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist

Olga Rudge Olga Rudge (April 13, 1895 – March 15, 1996) was an American-born concert violinist, now mainly remembered as the long-time mistress of the poet Ezra Pound, by whom she had a daughter, Mary. A gifted concert violinist of international reput ...

, who have made it their home. Surrounding the castle is the family's vineyard. Pound stayed with his daughter and her family at the castle in 1958 after he returned from the United States. It was there that he wrote the last 6 of his 116 "

canto The canto () is a principal form of division in medieval and modern long poetry. Etymology and equivalent terms The word ''canto'' is derived from the Italian word for "song" or "singing", which comes from the Latin ''cantus'', "song", from the ...

s" of '' The Cantos.''

The Ezra Pound Centre for Literature

"The Ezra Pound Centre for Literature" was established at the castle by his daughter, where students come from all over the world to study the poet's works. A large guesthouse on the castle grounds is used as temporary housing for students, usually for a semester at a time.

External links

Brunnenburg Castle

The Ezra Pound Center for Literature

Great Adventures at Brunnenburg Castle
Castles in South Tyrol Museums in South Tyrol Ezra Pound 13th-century establishments in Italy Establishments in the Princely County of Tyrol {{Italy-castle-stub