Villa Ottone Castle

Villa Ottone Castle lies on a steep rock cliff and was probably built by the Lords of Villa Ottone around the year 1100. Below the castle, there are a chapel and a palace. At its highest point its keep is anchored to the curtain wall.

In the course of time Villa Ottone Castle had many different owners, among others the Counts of Gorizia, the Counts of Tyrol, the Counts of Wolkenstein-Trostburg and the Diocese of Bressanone. The monument changed hands frequently due to political reasons and successions.

Around the year 1427 the famous poet and minnesinger Oswald von Wolkenstein was the curator of Villa Ottone Castle. However, in the middle of the 16th century it started to decline and finally became private property in 1929.