A very well preserved castle called Welsperg Castle dominates the mouth of Val Casies Valley northeast of Monguelfo in Val Pusteria Valley. The ruins of Thurn Castle are situated on a forested hill opposite.
Welsperg Castle, the oldest fortress in Upper Val Pusteria, gives visitors three different perspectives. The first is as the setting for the story of a major Tyrolean noble family: the castle served as their family seat from when it was first built up until 1907. Over the course of almost 800 years, the family farmed the lands, and had a marked influence on Tyrol. Secondly, visitors can discover it is built on the rare Welsberger Konglomerat (a special rock formation), which is “only” 100,000 years old. Finally, visitors can take a castle-themed walk through the walls of the medieval fortification, tracing its gradual expansion of its ground plan into an architecturally unique form, the ward of Welsperg Castle.
The castle represents an unusual and rarely found castle complex, which is also referred to as a "core castle" in technical jargon. The oldest element of the castle is without doubt the unusually high keep whose construction was begun in 1126 and completed in 1140. Soon after, the "Palas" with the farm buildings and a Romanesque chapel were built. In 1359, Georg von Welsperg bought Thurn Castle opposite. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the castle was considerably extended and rebuilt. The year 1765 was the great fateful year for the castle as well as for Thurn Castle. A fire destroyed most of the Palas and the farm building. Thus, the top floor of the Palas was removed and the roof truss was lowered to its present height. From then on, the fortifications were more or less left to their fate.
After it had burnt down in 1765 it was not re-erected. The donjon is the only evidence of this former castle. Today of the original castle remains the watchtower - tall 22 meters.
The castle was built by the Lords of Welsperg in the 13th century and most probably emerged from an originally small keep and a hall.
In 1288 Thurn Castle entered into the possession of the Lords of Füllein and in the 14th century it got its today’s name. The ruin occupies a whole hilltop and is 75 metres long. In the 17th century Thurn Castle started to decline and on May 15, 1765, a fire destroyed the bigger part of it. Today, the ruin with its 22 metres high keep is in the possession of Count Georg Thun-Hohenstein-Welsperg.
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Pentecost 26.05.2024 - 27.05.2024
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June 01.06.2024 - 30.06.2024 (excluded 15.06.2024)
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Summer 01.07.2024 - 01.09.2024
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