Schloss Porcia (Porcia Castle) is a castle in

Spittal an der Drau Spittal an der Drau is a town in the western part of the Austrian federal state of Carinthia. It is the administrative centre of Spittal an der Drau District, Austria's second largest district ('' Bezirk'') by area. Geography The town is located ...

, in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of Carinthia. It is one of the most significant

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

buildings in Austria.

History

The construction of the castle began in 1533 at the behest of Count

Gabriel von Salamanca-Ortenburg Gabriel von Salamanca (1489 – 12 December 1539) was a Spanish nobleman who served as general treasurer and archchancellor of the Habsburg archduke (and future Emperor) Ferdinand I of Austria from 1521 to 1526. He was elevated to a Count of Or ...

(1489–1539), treasurer and confidant of the Habsburg archduke

Ferdinand I of Austria en, Ferdinand Charles Leopold Joseph Francis Marcelin , image = Kaiser Ferdinand I.jpg , caption = Portrait by Eduard Edlinger (1843) , succession = Emperor of AustriaKing of Hungary , moretext = ( more...) , cor-type = ...

. Originally from

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of ...

in Habsburg Spain, Salamanca in 1524 for his services had received the estates of the

Counts of Ortenburg The Counts of Ortenburg (german: Grafen von Ortenburg) were a comital family in the mediaeval Duchy of Carinthia. Though they had roots in Bavarian nobility, an affiliation with the Imperial Counts of Ortenburg, a branch line of the Rhenish Fra ...

in the Duchy of Carinthia. The comital dynasty had become extinct in 1418 and since their ancestral seat Ortenburg Castle did not meet Salamanca's standards, he commissioned the design of his new residence in Spittal to Italian architects who designed the building in a ''

palazzo A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

'' style. However he never lived here, as the construction works continued until 1598. After the Salamanca dynasty had become extinct in 1620, the local

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

Widmann family acquired the castle and in 1662 assigned it to Prince John Ferdinand, Count of Porcia, at this time minister of the Habsburg emperor Leopold I. His descendants added Baroque elements to the façade in the 18th century, while the adjacent park was laid out in the 19th century. Not until 1918 did the Porcia family sell the castle to Baron Klinger von Klingerstorff. In 1951 it became a property of the Spittal municipality and accessible to the public. The famous arcaded courtyard houses several Lombard-Italian sculptures and since 1961 serves as a venue for the annual '' Komödienspiele Porcia'' theatre festival. Furthermore, the castle houses a museum for local history and is the site of several concerts and chorus recitals. Porcia Castle is notorious for the ghost of the

White Lady A White Lady (or woman in white) is a type of female ghost. She has long straight hair, typically dressed in a white dress or similar garment, reportedly seen in rural areas and associated with local legends of tragedy. White Lady legends a ...

Katharina of Salamanca, who is said to be guilty of remorselessness towards her subjects and cursed to haunt the rooms of the castle.

External links

Official site

Entry
at Aeiou Encyclopedia {{Authority control Porcia Porcia Houses completed in 1598 Renaissance architecture in Austria Museums in Carinthia (state)

History

See also

External links