Trostburg Castle

The castle can be reached by foot: either by a medieval path (around 15 minutes) from the village of Waidbruck (Ponte Gardena) or via an easy pathway (around 25 minutes) from the cemetery below the tunnel leading to the Val Gardena. This fortress was built in the 12th cen. and expanded in the 14th and 15th cen. It was once owned by the brother of the famous medieval troubadour, Oswald von Wolkenstein and has belonged to the South Tyrol Castle Institute since 1967. Its current appearance is the result of renovations during the Renaissance which combined its fortification characteristics with those of a residential castle. This idyllic and unadulterated castle symbolizes the conflict between protection through defensive technology and personable livability. The itinerary through the fortress also includes the exhibition of around eighty unique models of South Tyrolean castles made by Ludwig Mitterdorfer (1885-1963).