Schloss Weitra
Austria
Schloss Weitra sits on raised ground just south of the old town of Weitra, in the Waldviertel district of Gmünd in Lower Austria. What you see is a Renaissance palace, but it is built directly over a medieval castle, and that layering is the key to the place. The castle and the town were founded together, between 1201 and 1208, by Hadmar II of Kuenring. The palace that replaced the fortress followed plans drawn up in 1588 by Pietro Ferrabosco, and the rebuilding was carried out towards the end of the sixteenth century. As you walk up from the town, you are climbing towards a castle that was turned into a residence, not cleared away to make room for one.
- Written with AI from the Wikipedia article Schloss Weitra (de.wikipedia.org); facts only from there
- Show on OpenStreetMap
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