The ruins of Castelforte (Festenstein) can be found on a steep porphyry rock on the Gaido gorge, about 450m above sea level in val d’Adige, west of Andriano, in the municipality of Appiano sulla Strada del Vino (Bolzano).
The exact date of the castle’s construction is unknown, as is the identity of its earliest owners. It was documented for the first time around 1220, destroyed by a fire in 1503 and later rebuilt. In the mid 17th century, it passed to a certain Franz Lanser.
In around 1910 a German accountant purchased the ruin and had it restored. A one-storey tower was built on the rock spur. The rock face provided the back wall for the noble residence which features an internal courtyard and a building with arrow slits. In the Middle Ages, an unusual construction with a drawbridge (of which nothing remains today) gave access to the first square gate. From the first entrance (today the first gate is closed) a narrow passage leads uphill along the protective walls on the rock. The narrow inner courtyard is reached after two more gates.
IDM Film Fund & Commission — Alto Adige
Via del Macello, 73 — 39100 Bolzano
Phone: +39 0471 094 294
Email: luisa.giuliani@idm-suedtirol.com
Shooting authorisation: Ufficio Beni architettonici ed artistici / Amt für Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler, Armando-Diaz-Straße 8 39100 Bozen, T. +39 0471411910, F +39 0471 411909; Gemeinde Eppan an der Weinstraße - Comune di Appiano sulla Strada del Vino Gemeinde Eppan - Comune di Appiano Rathausplatz - Piazza Municipio 1 39057 - Eppan - Appiano, T +39 0471 667511, F +39 0471 667577, E info@eppan.eu, W www.eppan.eu
