Have you saved your ticket for Postojna Cave yet? Today we are going to visit the local castle!
Put on the same clothes you had to go through Caves and off you go! Follow me with your car, or jump with me for a ride on an old Alfa Romeo!
Eh, yes, we had a bit of a hard time parking, but this castle is always crowded! Just think, they have historical reenactments in this park with horses and riders dressed to perfection!
All the pictures (where no differently stated) are taken from the Author.
As the photo clearly shows, the arbor was reserved for the royal family.
Let's start with some lines of history to better understand the purpose of this Castle and some also quite interesting anecdotes.
The De Lorean is ready and off we go, projecting us back in time to the 12th century when the building of the castle began.
A well-known refuge of the Knight Erasmus, it was built on the slopes of a karst mountain, inside which there is a cave; there is also a tunnel that connects the castle with the Vipacco River.
During the two world wars, this building was on Italian territory and it was named Lueghi Castle.
The current appearance of the castle is due to the edifications carried out by the Gallemberg and Kobenzl families subsequent to the Erasmus period.
The building took place in front of a cave entrance, and the back wall of rock is as high as 123 MT. In this tangle of tunnels winding inside the mountain is also the Erasmus hut.
Why is it always referred to as a refuge and not a residence?
Knight Erasmus of Lueg was a squire who was granted baronial investiture in 1478, by Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg. Very renowned for his raids, he used to take refuge in this building to escape from prison.
Once the emperor learned of these misdeeds on Erasmus' part, he deployed a number of armed forces and laid siege to the manor, which because of its strategic configuration was able to withstand the offensive for several months.
Here enters the scene the burrow that connected the Castle with the Vipava River: being on the other side of the rise, it was possible to leave the manor to fetch supplies, all with the mountain in front and thus without being disturbed or seen.
Legend tells that the fortress was conquered only as a result of treachery: all the perimeter walls have a rather important width, except for one bathroom, which, not having to have defensive features, had decidedly "normal" walls.
The betrayal carried out by a servant against Knight Erasmus consisted of warning him when and where he went to the bathroom. In fact, a cannonade destroyed the bath room with the Knight inside.
Following his death, the Knight was buried in a certain location, in the shade of a mulberry tree, which is still living today.
The entire system of tunnels and caves cannot be seen, but a portion is visible. The visible portion is the most accessible and where there is a swallowhole about ten meters deep and populated by a colony of bats.
This *shaft *was filled with guano and was used to be able to warm up inside the castle.
After a brief introduction we begin the tour of the Castle, in an hour or so we should be able to do it, ready to be able to go eat when we leave!
We start at the lower part of the building, where we find the cave and the dungeons with the torture room.
Very important detail, as pipes were dug into the rock for the recovery of underground water: even at that time they knew it was potable, as it was naturally filtered!
Women and children's room
This is the bathroom, the "death" room of Knight Erasmus.
Knight's Hall
Hall of armor
Bedroom
Friar
Well guys, this wonderful tour has also come to an end, I hope you were as satisfied as I was with the magnificent things we saw.
Bye everyone and have all your trekking gear ready, I'll be taking you to see some Lakes soon, very nice ones!
See you at the next trip!
