Lavant Castle

The Lords of Lavant were ministeriales of the Counts of Lechsgemünd-Matrei. They first appear in documents with Gebolf de Lowat in 1169. Around 1200, they built their ancestral seat on the summit of the Kirchbichl. Before 1206, they entered the service of the Counts of Görz. Around this time, the castle was probably expanded. The heyday of the Lords of Lavant was around the middle of the 14th century.

In 1369, Heinrich von Lavant had to hand over all the property he had inherited from his brother Hans to Count Meinhard von Görz. This marked the beginning of the family's decline. The Görz family had Lavant administered by burgraves. The small fortified building was no longer important to Count Meinhard and his successors. When the small St. Peter's Church was built on the Kirchbichl before 1485, the already decaying castle was abandoned, and its stones were used as welcome building material for the church. Over the following centuries, it fell into oblivion.

The name Trettenstein, by which it was occasionally referred, is not historical. It only appears in the 19th century. Its origin is uncertain. About halfway up the access road to the Kirchbichl, remains of two towers with walls about two meters thick have been preserved. This could be the gate of a medieval refuge castle for the population. The Görz defensive order of 1444 stipulated that the Lavanter mountain was to be fortified and, in the event of impending danger, occupied and equipped with provisions and weapons.