Loka Castle, Medieval castle in Škofja Loka, Slovenia.
Loka Castle stands on a grassy hilltop and features thick stone walls, multiple towers, and an enclosed courtyard at its center. The structure displays typical medieval fortification elements with rooms now used for museum exhibitions.
Loka Castle was first mentioned in documents in 1202, initially as a square central tower later enclosed by walls in the 13th and 14th centuries. The seat of the Loka lordship moved here from the Upper Tower at Krancl in 1270. The 1511 earthquake destroyed the Krancl tower and damaged the castle, which was rebuilt between 1513 and 1527 under Bishop Filip.
The Loka Museum, founded in 1939, has occupied the castle since 1959, when the municipality took over the building. Its displays are arranged in the cellar, ground floor and first floor, drawing on archaeological, historical, art, natural-history and ethnological collections from the former Loka estate. Andrej Pavlovec led the transfer of the collection from Puštal into the castle.
The castle stands on a hill above Škofja Loka, and the museum occupies the cellar, ground floor and first floor. The walk up from the old town centre is short but climbs, so allow time for the slope. The museum was founded in 1939 and moved into the castle in 1959.
The castle's garden was the site of several mass graves of Home Guard members and German prisoners of war held in the castle after 1945. Between 1949 and 1950 the building served as a women's labour camp, then as a men's correctional home until 1959.
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