Castel Pergine: Guardian of the Valley

The Tyrolnow the Trentino is a land of mountains, extraordinary views, of forests, of waterfalls and meadowsand a land of castles, many castles.. more than any where else in all of Europe. Their castles reflect lands that never had a king but Emperors and Lords and feudal Bishops and Castellani that ruled sometimes sections and often the entire territory. The castles offer a distinctive atmosphere where you quickly discern as you go through the massive entrances; walk through the lists where tournaments were once held and enter frescoed rooms where the shadows might cloak the presence of figures from distinct legend. They are castles whose ruins, encountered unexpectedly on walks through the countryside, radiate mystery. Their square stones bring to life the Castel Pergine shouts of soldiers who once guarded the walls and the loud cries of the grooms in the stables and the soft voices of the knights keeping a vigil in a castle chapel.One such splendid castle is the imposing Castel Pergine.

Castel Pergine dominates the whole Alta Valsugana and the city of Pergine. It sits conspicuously and dominantly on a high hill and overlooking the valley strategically protecting and guarding the once ancient and significant Via Claudia Augusta. It was the Roman road that linked the valley of the Po River with Rhaetia (modern Southern Germany) across the Alps. In 15 BC, the Roman general Nero Claudius Drusus, the adopted son of Augustus, got orders from his stepfather to improve the passage through the Alps for military purposes and to increase Roman control over Rhaetia and Noricum.[3] The project of converting a pack-animal trail to serve wheeled vehicles was completed sixty years later in 46-47 AD by the son of Drusus, the Emperor Claudius. People and goods could pass between the Adriatic and the broad valley of the Po to Tridentum (modern Trento), then north- Margaret Maultasch ward following the Adige up to Pons Drusi, the "bridge of Drusus" which developed into Bolzano. Castel Pergine rises on the site of an old prehistoric fortress which later became a Roman settlement..and which became Pergine Valsugana. It was transformed into a Longobard stronghold. The castle in its present form was erected in the 13th century and belonged to the Dukes of Austria under the reign of Margaret Maultasch, and then to the Emperor Maximilian I. Margaret, Countess of Tyrol was the last Countess of Tyrol. Upon her death, the Tyrol became united with the hereditary lands of the House of Habsburg. In 1531, it became the property of the Bishop of Trento Bernardo Cles, the great manager of the Council of Trent. Bernardo Cles The bishop of Trent was not only a bishop and prince of the church but a true Prince, a feudal prince of the Principato of Trento that ruled for 800 years prior to the Austrian Hungarian dominance of 200 years ending in 1918. The castle boasts two surrounding walls: a medieval part, comprising the defensive features, such as the keep and the towers, and the Renaissance residential quarters. A very unusual historical and architectural highlight is the huge octagonal pillar supporting the vaulted ceiling of the entrance hall. Other interesting features include, the so-called Prigione della Goccia (Prison of the Drop), the Camera del Camino (the Fireplace Room), which is notorious since popular legends have it that the ghost of a mysterious lady in white, la Dama Bianca, has been known to have appeared Notable also is the Sala del Trono (Throne Room) and the Chapel of St. Andrew on the first floor. The five rooms on the second floor and the garden are used exhibition venues. 13

Castel Pergine