Schloss Porcia (Porcia Castle) is a

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 ...

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 marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

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 Austria King 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 o ...

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 Duchy of Carinthia (german: Herzogtum Kärnten; sl, Vojvodina Koroška) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial St ...

. 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 Widmann family acquired the castle and in 1662 assigned it to Prince

John Ferdinand, Count of Porcia John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, 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 An arcade is a succession of contiguous arches, with each arch supported by a colonnade of columns or piers. Exterior arcades are designed to provide a sheltered walkway for pedestrians. The walkway may be lined with retail stores. An arcade may ...

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 ar ...

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 Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works in both German and English about Austria-related topics. Background The predecessor of Austria-Forum, the AEIOU project was launched in 1996 by the Austrian Federal Minist ...

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

History

See also

External links