Overview
One of the most historically remarkable and best-preserved castles in the province of Bolzano/Bozen is located in the Sterzinger Moos, a reclaimed marshland at the beginning of the Vipiteno/Sterzing basin. Opposite stand the tower and the main building of Castel Pietra/Schloss Sprechenstein, forming with Castel Tasso a sort of pair of sentinels at the entrance to the basin. The Italian name took its origin from a past temporary ownership by the Thurn und Taxis family, who, after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in the early 1800s, had completely lost their former rights to manage the postal system in Europe, and were evidently investing here at that point.
The central dungeon dates back to the 12th century. Other buildings were added to it until the 16th century, but it is still in the main body that one can visit the Chapter Room, wood-panelled with precious carvings, and the Green Room, with refined monochrome frescoes and an exceptional openwork wooden gate giving access to the San Zeno chapel. In terms of access, you climb up a path from the car park.
In historical terms, the castle is mentioned in documents as far back as the 11th century as a fiefdom of a Bavarian comital family, taking the name Reifenstein by the subsequent owners: the lords of the village of Stilves, which today is a part of the local municipality. Much of what we find today depends on the centuries of ownership by the Teutonic Order.
