Ptuj Castle

Ptuj Castle above the roofs
of the city of the same name

The Ptuj Castle (also Ptuj Castle or Castle Oberpettau ) is a medieval castle on the castle hill of the Slovenian town of Ptuj . The building ensemble is a listed building and has served as a museum since 1945 .

history

Historical representation of Oberpettau Castle, year 1681

The castle has its origin in a Roman fort at this point on the mountain top. Archaeological excavations suggest that people sought refuge on this mountain in the early days, and remains of the Celts' settlements have also been found. In the 9th century the castle was converted into a fortress and in the 11th / 12th. Century at the instigation of Archbishop Konrad I from the Salzburg archdiocese , to whose property Pettau and the castle belonged, renewed. It now had a keep (called Konradsturm ) and a few small watchtowers on a wall made of natural stones. In the first third of the 12th century, the Count family von Pettau (today Ptuj) became owners of the castle, which they expanded and established their residence here. During their rule of several centuries, monasteries of the Franciscans and Minorites as well as a pilgrimage church on the castle hill were built in the place.

In the centuries that followed, the complex was successively passed to the Hungarian king , the Bohemian king , the Teutonic Order , and again to the Lords of Pettau. The horseshoe-shaped palace was built in the 14th century. Finally - from 1438 - the Salzburg office took over the administration. In 1479 the castle complex came under Hungarian occupation.

The most important renovations of the castle complex took place from the middle of the 17th century on the initiative of General Walther Leslie , who bought the property in 1656.

The last owners were the Counts of Herberstein , who acquired the building complex in 1873 and had it renovated in 1912. On this occasion, they also set up their first small museum. The counts were expropriated with the end of World War II in 1945 . Subsequently, the Yugoslav state decreed that a regional museum be set up in the castle complex, which was named Ptuj Ormož in 1963. Even after Slovenia's state independence in 1992, the museum was retained, which is now called the Krainsk Museum Ptuj and has developed into a tourist magnet.

Ptuj castle building, courtyard view

description

Site plan of the buildings around the castle courtyard

Deep well

What is defensive is preserved as a stone enclosure wall and in the recognizable remains of a bastion, but the buildings now have the character of a castle . Only the tower in the western forecourt dates from the first construction period as a castle.

Visitors reach the mountain via stairs or a barrier-free road. Castle gates designed primarily by Italian architects lead to the castle courtyard and the museum entrances. The gates show, among other things, the coats of arms of the previous owners.

The structure is an open three-wing building in an architectural mix of styles (especially Romanesque , Baroque , Renaissance ) and was last extensively restored at the end of the 20th century. The contiguous parts of the building consist of three levels and have open arcades on the courtyard side . A tiled pent roof completes the palas ensemble.

As solo buildings, there is a granary and former stables on the plateau. In the freely accessible courtyard there is a deep well in the middle , in the arches on the ground floor there are several preserved pieces of equipment from one of the earlier monasteries, including the following marble or sandstone sculptures: Saint Dominic , Virgin Mary with the Baby Jesus, the Immaculate . A colorfully painted sedan chair from the 19th century is particularly striking .

View into the entrance hall to the weapon collection

The building sections house museum collections, including a weapons collection with around 500 exhibits, a furniture and clothing collection - supplemented by traditional carnival costumes and masks, musical instruments with around 300 instruments from folk music, paintings and reverse glass paintings, everyday objects. There is also an in-house educational service that is used by school classes. An entrance fee of six euros (as of the end of 2019) must be paid for the visit.

The monastery church, which emerged from the pilgrimage church and is now called the Church of the Assumption of Mary after renovation and expansion, is attached to one wing of the building .

In the 21st century, two new vines , the Seebodner Rosentraum and the Modra kavčina , were planted on the south side of an enclosure wall (2015). The first comes from the Austrian twin town, the other is an offshoot of the oldest grapevine in the Maribor district of Lent.