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Valcastiel Castle

Valcastiel Castle
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The remains of the Castle can be visited

The castle ruin Valcastiel (also Valkastiel) is a medieval castle ruin near Vandans in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg. Above the village of Vandans lies the Valcastieltobel with the Mustergielbach between the Geißberg and the Fahrengrat.

Not much is known about the history of this extremely exposed ruin, which is only accessible via a via ferrata.

For a long time, it was suspected to be the Montafon Castle, mentioned in 1391 and archivally attested, which was most likely destroyed in 1405 during the Appenzell War. According to other findings, however, Montafon Castle does not refer to a building, but is to be regarded as a medieval designation of dominion.

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The ruin consists of two complexes. The medieval remains indicate a chapel-like structure and show the foundation remains of a tower:

  • At the lower end of the spur, wall remains with a rather well-preserved round arch window are preserved today.
  • On top of the spur, a presumed tower foundation measuring approximately 4 x 3.5 meters was uncovered.

The complex was restored in 1926 and archaeologically investigated in 2002/03 under Kasten Wink. The examined wall remains were dated to a period around 1120/40 and are thus considered the oldest medieval remains in Vorarlberg.

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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image: Tobias1984 / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.

Location: 47.0999, 9.8398