Today's Castle: Tirol

Castle Tirol to Austrians, Tirolo to Italians, this ancient fortress is on the border between the German-speaking and Italian-speaking worlds. Even though this is the old center of the Austrian province of Tyrol, it is currently in Italy, but it occurs to me that since major fortresses are often on borders this must often happen to them.

The site has been occupied since pre-Christian times, but the oldest surviving stonework dates to the 11th century. There was a major building episode in the early 1100s, after this became the seat of the powerful Counts of Tyrol.

One of the surviving bits of that early fortress is the Lower Chapel, with its wonderful Romanesque carving.

There was a second major building episode in the 1260s under Count Meinhard II. The Upper Chapel dates to this period.

In 1420 the Count of Tyrol moved elsewhere, and this fortress was largely abandoned. It fell into decay and part was destroyed by a huge landslide. This romantic drawing of 1869 gives an impression of the ruins.

Since then it has been reconstructed, and much of what you see today is not original. I have been trying to find out the status of these much-photographed windows, but without luck. That upper one has a suspiciously well-preserved look for a window.

Still, a magnificent place.