Warth Castle, Medieval castle in Eppan an der Weinstrasse, Italy.
Warth Castle stands on a moraine hill above the SS42 in the Warttal, southeast of St. Pauls in Eppan. Its oldest part is a square four-storey tower over 18 metres high, the habitable keep, which with a small gate block, the palas and a short stretch of curtain wall encloses an inner courtyard. To the north the castle resembles a ship's hull. The keep holds a vaulted, windowless dungeon reached by a door from the palas cellar.
In the 12th century a fortified farm stood on the site; in 1194 the Counts of Eppan handed it to Konrad II of Beseno, Bishop of Trent, and received it back as a fief in 1211. Around 1250 Ulrich von Altenburg built the castle, which his son Arnold sold to Peter Warter; the Lords of Wart are documented in 1267 and the castrum de Warte in 1289. After the Wart died out, Johann von Goldegg acquired it in 1390, the Weineck followed in the mid-15th century, and in 1536 it passed to the Künigl counts, who held it until 1954.
The castle's name comes from the Lords of Wart, first documented in 1267; in 1289 the "castrum de Warte" served as a place where deeds were drawn up. Inside the keep, a 14th-century room has a wooden beam ceiling painted with a crenellated wall motif, and a wooden stube of 1613 is preserved. Today the castle houses a wine cellar and rented holiday apartments.
The castle stands on a moraine hill beside the SS42 in the Warttal, southeast of St. Pauls. It is reached on foot or by road; the sources do not mention parking on the grounds. Inside, a free-standing staircase in the courtyard leads to the upper-floor hall, and the keep's lower vaulted cellar is entered through a door from the palas.
The wooden stube panelled in 1613 survives inside the castle, and the keep holds a 14th-century room whose walls are painted with a crenellated wall motif. The castle now houses a wine cellar and luxury apartments rented to tourists.
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