Reifenstein Castle is on a towering and rocky hill in Sterzinger Moos in Campo di Trens (Freienfeld), near the city of Vipiteno (Sterzing). The first documentation of the castle in 1100 records it as a fief of the Bavarian Count Lechsgmünd; after 1110 the castle was given as a fief to the Lords of Stilfes. They expanded the castle and named it Reifenstein.
This castle is particularly well preserved, as it was never conquered or destroyed in the entirety of its history. The complex also includes the little Church of St. Zeno, at which Baiuvarii tree coffins dating from the fourth to eighth centuries have been found.
A total of ten of the castle’s rooms, which are still in excellent condition, are open to the public. The keep of the castle dates from the twelfth century; the great hall, meanwhile, is fifteenth century. The Green Room is also very interesting, featuring ornamental paintings and a magnificent wooden gate from the late-Gothic period. A portcullis, torture chamber, courtroom and underground dungeon all mark Reifenstein as a real medieval knight’s castle.
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