Renaissance facade of 800-year-old Predjama Castle in south-west Slovenia, an impregnable fortress built in the mouth of a cavern.
Predjama, Notranjska province, Slovenia: Predjama Castle, Predjamski grad or grad Predjama, a spectacular fortress in a limestone landscape in the village of Predjama in south-west Slovenia. The castle, built within a cave mouth, is the world’s largest cave castle and is listed in Guinness World Records. It is an impregnable medieval marvel, perched in the middle of a 123 metre-high cliff for more than 800 years. Archaeological finds near the castle show human habitation in the area as early as the Stone Age. Historical records of the castle itself date back to the 1200s AD when it was built in Gothic style. However, the castle was comprehensively rebuilt in the 1500s and most of what one sees today, including the Renaissance facade, dates from the 16th century. In the 1200s, Predjama Castle was known as Castle Luegg. At that time, Slovenia was part of the German empire and Luegg was the name of the German family who owned the castle. To this day, a man named Luegg, Luegger or Lueg, who was Lord of the castle in the 1400s, is the castle’s most famous inhabitant. In the mid 1480s, robber baron Erasmus von Lueg, a local Robin Hood hero, fled to the castle after killing Count Pappenheim, Marshal of the Imperial Habsburg Court in a duel. In retaliation, a siege of the castle was ordered by Habsburg Emperor Frederick III. But Erasmus held his ground, saved by a network of secret tunnels in rocks below that allowed him to bring in provisions. After a year and a day, however, Erasmus was betrayed by a servant and came to an inglorious end: he was hit by a cannon ball as he sat in an outhouse toilet.
Size: 3800px × 2573px
Location: Predjama Castle, Notranjska province, Slovenia
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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