Žužemberk Castle, Medieval fortress on a cliff in Žužemberk, Slovenia

Žužemberk Castle is a medieval fortress perched on a cliff overlooking the Krka River valley. Seven round towers line its defensive walls, creating a solid structure that rises above the surrounding landscape.

A portal inscription of "1000" links the first fortification to Wilhelm I, but the castle is first documented in 1295, when Count Albert I of Gorizia bought "castrum Sausenberc in marchia Sclauica". In 1374 it passed to the Counts of Celje, and after Ulrich II died childless in 1456 the Habsburgs inherited it. Emperor Ferdinand sold it in 1538 to the Auersperg brothers Wolf Engelbert and Georg, who built the round towers and bastions in the 16th century.

Since 1996 the castle has hosted "medieval days" in summer, and concerts are held in its cellar from June to September. A linden tree planted in the courtyard after a bear killed Ana von Eck in 1575 stood for 424 years until it was cut down in 1999.

The castle stands on a terrace above the Krka in the centre of Žužemberk. The walls were rebuilt in the 16th century with round defence towers, and the gradual restoration begun in the 1960s was completed in 1996. Concerts are held in the cellar in summer, from June to September.

The year 1000 carved on the entrance portal is a traditional founding date, not a documented one: the castle is first recorded in writing in 1295, when Count Albert I of Gorizia bought it as "castrum Sausenberc in marchia Sclauica" from Heinzelin von Mahrenfels. The portal numeral is the detail to look for.