Rodenegg Castle, Medieval castle in Rodeneck, Italy
Rodenegg Castle is a medieval castle perched on a rocky spur above the Rienza Gorge, between the villages of Sciaves and Rio di Pusteria in South Tyrol, Italy. Its rooms contain a series of Romanesque wall paintings that cover the upper floor of one of its towers.
The castle was founded in the 12th century by a nobleman named Frederick of Rodank, and ownership stayed within his family line for generations. The medieval poet Oswald von Wolkenstein, one of the most well-known German-language writers of his era, was connected to this same lineage.
The frescoes inside the castle depict scenes from the Arthurian legend of Iwein, based on a medieval German poem by Hartmann von Aue. They are among the earliest known visual representations of this story anywhere in Europe.
The castle is outside the village of Rodeneck and is reached by a footpath, so solid shoes are a good idea before setting out. Guided tours are the main way to see the frescoes up close, as parts of the interior are not open without a guide.
The wall paintings were hidden behind layers of plaster for centuries and were only discovered in 1972 during renovation work. They tell the Iwein story in a continuous strip of scenes, much like an early form of sequential storytelling in pictures.
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