Tyrol Castle, less commonly Tirol Castle (german: Schloss Tirol, it, Castel Tirolo) is a castle in the ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...

'' (municipality) of

Tirol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

near

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 Passeier V ...

, in the

Burggrafenamt The Burggrafenamt ( it, Burgraviato , german: Burggrafenamt) is a district ( it, comprensorio, german: Bezirksgemeinschaft) in the western part of the Italian province of South Tyrol. It comprises the part of the Adige river valley between Naturn ...

district 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 ...

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 ...

. It was the ancestral seat of the Counts of Tyrol and gave the whole

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

region its name.

History

The castle hill has been inhabited since ancient times. Several artefacts and one field of graves from the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

have been identified.

Archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes ...

s have excavated a church with three

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

s dating from the early Christian period. The first castle was built before 1100. The second construction phase including the

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...

dates to 1139/40. A third phase of construction took place in the second half of the 13th century under Count

Meinhard II of Gorizia-Tyrol Meinhard II (c. 1238 – 1 November 1295), a member of the House of Gorizia (''Meinhardiner''), ruled the County of Gorizia (as Meinhard IV) and the County of Tyrol together with his younger brother Albert from 1258. In 1271 they divided their h ...

. In 1347 Meinhard's granddaughter Countess Margaret of Tyrol was besieged here by the forces of the

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

king Charles IV. The castle remained the seat of Tyrol's sovereigns until 1420, when the Habsburg archduke Frederick IV moved the administrative seat to Innsbruck north of the

Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass (german: link=no, Brennerpass , shortly ; it, Passo del Brennero ) is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and ha ...

. In modern times parts of the castle fell into the so-called ''"Köstengraben"'', a steep gorge. It was even sold in order to be used as a quarry. In the 19th century the castle was restored; the keep was rebuilt in 1904. Regarding art history, the frescos of the castle's chapel are of special interest as well as two Romanesque portals with opulent

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorpho ...

sculptures showing legendary creatures, religious themes, and geometric

ornament An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration * Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts * Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve ...

s. The chapel also houses the oldest-known painting of the

coat of arms of Tyrol The Coat of Arms of Tyrol is the historic coat of arms of the region of Tyrol. It shows a red eagle. It was used by the Princely County of Tyrol and is today used by the states of Tyrol in Austria, South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolz ...

, the Red Eagle. The castle has served as the site of a museum since the early 1980s. Since 2003, Tyrol Castle houses the . Next to the castle there is a

falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

with a nursing ward for birds of prey. File:Schloss Tirol 02.jpg , Exterior File:Tirol Schloss 03.jpg , Courtyard File:Tirol Schloss 04.jpg , Romanesque portal of the castle's chapel File:Tirol Schloss 05.jpg , Portal of the chapel, detail

References

External links

* {{Authority control Castles in South Tyrol Museums in South Tyrol Local museums in Italy Establishments in the Princely County of Tyrol

History

See also

References

External links