Duino Castle (Italian: Castello di Duino, German: Schloss Duino, Slovene: Grad Devin) is a fourteenth-century fortification located in Duino (municipality of Duino-Aurisina), near Trieste, Italy, on the cliffs overlooking the Gulf of Trieste.

Building commenced in 1389 at the order of the Wallsee family. The ruins of an older castle built in the eleventh century by the Patriarch of Aquileia are located on the grounds. In the nineteenth century, it became one of two residences for Prince Alexander von Thurn und Taxis and his wife Princess Marie of the Czech branch of the House of Thurn und Taxis. While not the wealthiest of the Thurn und Taxis line, Alexander and Marie supported artists and writers, among these included Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke. While a guest of Princess Marie in early 1912, Rilke began to write his Duino Elegies, a collection of ten long deeply philosophical and mystical poems which are considered to be his greatest work. Rilke dedicated his work to Princess Marie when they were completed in February 1922 and published the following year.

Duino Castle remains property of the Thurn und Taxis family, and is owned by Prince Alexander and Princess Marie's great-grandson, Prince Carlo Alessandro della Torre e Tasso, Duke of Castel Duino. The castle has been opened to the public as a museum and park.

Duino Castle

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Monfalcone Castle, locally known as Rocca di Monfalcone or Castello di Monfalcone, lies on a mountain north of the town with the same name, north-west of the city of Trieste in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in Italy.

Originally a prehistoric fortified village, the site was occupied by a Roman observation tower, guarding the road from the town of Aquileia to Tergeste (Trieste), and later by a fortress dating back to the reign of Teodoricus.

As a stronghold of the Patriarch of Aquileia, overseeing the County of Duino, the castle was long contended for by the Patriarch and the Count of Gorizia, but was also a "free commune" holding a seat in the Friulian Parliament.

Having surrendered on 14 July 1420 to the troops of the Venetian doge, Tommaso Mocenigo, it became an important outpost for the protection of the Venetian mainland against the Count of Gorizia and the Austrian Emperor and a defence against the attacks of the Turks. For this reason it was known as "Friuli's watchful eye".

In 1797 it came under Austrian rule and on 9 June 1915 it was occupied by the Italian army.

The castle is a square keep surrounded by a circular wall and a low earthen wall.

https://www.castles.nl

Rocca di Monfalcone 


The white fairytale castle, surrounded by a green and lush park, is built at the behest of Massimiliano d'Asburgo-Lorena between 1856 and 1860, fascinated by the impervious beauty of the promontory of Grignano, a rocky outcrop on the cliff.

The archduke personally followed the progress of the castle and the vast park, an English and Italian garden, embellished with numerous rare plants and ponds, which descends in broad steps towards the sea.

The complex is strongly influenced by an eclectic style as a revisited construction of a medieval fortress: models taken from medieval, gothic and renaissance periods are combined in a wonderful fusion, implementing a synthesis of perfect union between nature and art, Mediterranean fragrances and austere forms European.

In this "love nest" the prince and his wife, Carlotta of Belgium, spend happy moments before sailing to Mexico in 1864, a nation of which Maximilian will become emperor but where, soon after, he will lose his life.

Subsequently it was the residence of the Duke Amedeo d'Aosta and during the war period the seat of foreign military commands, the castle is now used as a museum.

You can visit more than 20 rooms: of particular value are the "Sale di Massimiliano", including the library-study, the bedroom furnished as a cabin of a ship and the magnificent "Sala del trono", recently restored and restored to the ancient splendor.

Among other things, not far from the entrance gate to the park, there are the Scuderie, currently the exhibition venue, the Castelletto and the numerous sculptures that decorate open spaces and paths that allow walking through a varied environment of great botanical interest.

https://www.histouring.com

Castello di Miramare

The winery is located in the town of San Michele del Carso it and draws its name from the old Castello di Rubbia. The roots of the wine tradition in our district sink into the night of time. This area serves as the front line during the First World War. Following the devastation caused by war, everything that once existed only remained in our memory by precious faded black and white photos.
Since the late nineties, our family is dedicated to the farming of the native varieties of Carso: Vitovska, Istrian Malvasia and Terrano, following the “Simonit & Sirch method” aimed at respecting the plant balance and the pursuit of high quality grapes.

http://www.castellodirubbia.com

Castello di Rubbia

The hill was originally occupied by a fortified prehistoric village, which later became an important Roman settlement; its ruins can still be visited today. The castle, built by the Venetians during the Middle Ages, was pulled down in 1381 on the orders of the Patriarch of Aquileia and rebuilt in 1470 by Frederick III of Austria. It was re-fortified in 1508-1509 when Triest briefly came under Venetian rule; work continued when Austria regained possession of the city and in 1630 it was furnished with large bastions and interconnecting walls. For centuries the castle was the residence of the Austrian governor and played an important strategic role up until WW2. Close to the castle there is the 14th-century cathedral of San Giusto, built upon the ruins of two previous churches - a 5th-century basilica erected over the original Roman temple, and the 11th-century church of Our Lady of the Assumption, containing a chapel dedicated to St. Just. The massive bell tower dates from 1337.

consorziocastelli.it

Castello di San Giusto

Gorizia Castle is an Italian fortification, dating to the 11th century, built on the hill which dominates the city of Gorizia, Italy, from which it takes its name.
History
The construction of Gorizia Castle can be dated to around 1146, where, for the first time, the title of Count of Gorizia appears, given to Henry IV of Spanheim, which presumes the presence of a fortification on site.

It is likely that an initial series of defensive structures such as a small motte-and-bailey fort with a moat and a palisade which had preceded the construction of a stone tower or keep, which was further expanded during the 13th century, with the addition of a mansion and a two-storey building. During the same period there was certainly a hamlet outside of the palisade, also outfitted with a defensive barrier and composed of houses mandatorily built in masonry, an enforcement given to the residents together with the duty of defending the castle in case of attack.
The first representation of the castle dates back to 1307, imprinted on the seal allowed to the city by Albert II. Although the figure is very stylized, the keep can be clearly seen. It is likely that around 1350, the castle had similar appearance to that of Bruck in Lienz.

At Leonhard's death, the last count of Gorizia, which occurred in 1500, the feud and Gorizia Castle became properties of Maximilian I of Habsburg, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire; which, while reinforcing its defences, lost the fortification and the territory in 1508, and they were obtained by the Republic of Venice, which claimed the succession of the county.

Under the 'Serenissima', the castle had further fortification works to make it more appropriate to the Renaissance warfare, which incorporated the use of firearms. Among the various changes made, the 11th-century keep was demolished. However, Venice only managed to occupy the territory for thirteen months, until June 1509.

In the following century, the castle was used as a prison and as a barracks, and lost its medieval appearance. In the 13th century it was further expanded with bastions, powder kegs and walls. The construction of some of these works was supervised by mathematician and astronomer Edmond Halley.

The castle was damaged during the bombings in the First World War, and underwent a philological restoration between 1934 and 1937 by the architect Ferdinando Forlati, with the help of military engineers and the supervision of the Belle Arti of Trieste. It was decided to return to a medieval look of the castle and discard the white plastering that the building had acquired during the Renaissance.