Schloss Porcia (Porcia Castle) is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

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

, in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n state of

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

. It is one of the most significant

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

buildings in Austria.

History

The construction of the castle began in 1533 at the behest of Count Gabriel von Salamanca-Ortenburg (1489–1539), treasurer and confidant of the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

archduke

Ferdinand I of Austria Ferdinand I ( 19 April 1793 – 29 June 1875) was Emperor of Austria from March 1835 until his abdication in December 1848. He was also King of Hungary, King of Croatia, Croatia and King of Bohemia, Bohemia (as Ferdinand V), King of Lombardy– ...

. Originally from

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

Habsburg Spain Habsburg Spain refers to Spain and the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy, also known as the Rex Catholicissimus, Catholic Monarchy, in the period from 1516 to 1700 when it was ruled by kings from the House of Habsburg. In t ...

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

Counts of Ortenburg The Counts of 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 Franconian House of Sponheim, ...

in the

Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (; ; ) 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 State after the original German stem duchies. Car ...

. 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 large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

'' 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, at this time minister of the Habsburg emperor Leopold I. His descendants added

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

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 Porcia may refer to: People *Porcia gens, ancient Roman family **Porcia (wife of Brutus) **Porcia (sister of Cato the Younger) *Ferdinando Porcia (1835–1896), Italian painter *Francesco Porcia (1531–1612), Italian painter Others *Valerian ...

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 ''Komödienspiele Porcia'' is an annual festival of drama in the tradition of the ''commedia dell'arte''. It is held each summer at Porcia Castle in the Austrian town of Spittal an der Drau, Carinthia. After a group of Viennese dramatists aroun ...

'' 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 is typically dressed in a white dress or similar garment, reportedly seen in rural areas and associated with local legends of tragedy. White Lady legends are found in many count ...

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

References

External links

Official site

Entry
at

Aeiou Encyclopedia Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works on Austria in German language, German, with some articles in English language, English, initiated by Graz University of Technology, TU Graz. As of 2022, Austria-Forum has be ...

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

History

See also

References

External links