A medieval watchtower of 1311 rises above the ruins of Castel Belfort at Spormaggiore, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy. The watchtower and castle were originally built to guard the entrance to the Val de Non and the Brenta Dolomites. The castle was rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1670 and then abandoned in the late 1700s.
Spormaggiore, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy: an ancient embattled tower rises above the picturesque ruins of Castel Belfort, founded in the early 14th century, rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1670, but then abandoned in the late 18th century. The fortress dates from 1311, when Henry, Count of Tyrol, granted Tissone di Altspaur a licence to build a watchtower beside the road linking Spormaggiore to Cavedago at the entrance to the Val di Non, gateway to the Brenta Dolomites. In 1350, it passed to the Reifer family, but reverted in 1415 to Hapsburg Emperor and Count of Tyrol, Frederick IV. It later changed hands many times before coming into the possession of the Saracini counts in the mid-17th century. After the 1670 fire, the Saracini decided to tear down the ruined castle. They rebuilt it in 17th century style as a rectangular summer residence, with all medieval features gone apart from the tower and the surrounding defensive wall. Castel Belfort was abandoned after it lost its importance while the area was under Napoleonic occupation, but the Saracini retained ownership until the 1990s, when the crumbling remains were sold to the town of Spormaggiore. The ruins were consolidated in 2013 and are now open to the public. According to legend, the castle site is haunted by the bloodthirsty and vengeful ghost of a 15th century former owner, Count Cristoforo Reifer di Altspaur. Amid bouts of insanity and paranoia, he is said to have tried to murder his third wife, Orsola, in the belief she had been unfaithful. His spectre is said to roam the ruins still looking for proof of her infidelity.
Size: 2703px × 4062px
Location: Castel Belfort, Spormaggiore, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1300s, 1311, 14th, 1670, abandoned, adige, alpine, altspaur, attempted, belfort, castel, castle, castles, century, count, counts, crenellated, cristoforo, , de, di, early, embattled, emperor, empire, family, fire, fortress, founded, frederick, ghost, hapsburg, haunted, holy, insane, italian, italy, iv, kerr, medieval, murder, north, open, owner, paranoid, province, public, rebuilt, reifer, roman, ruin, ruined, ruins, saracini, spectre, spirit, spormaggiore, square, terence, tissone, tower, towers, trentino, trentino-alto, tyrol, val, vengeful, watchtower, watchtowers
