Predjamski Castle

One of the most visited castles in Slovenia is the Predjamski Castle. The castle was integrated into a natural rock arch high in mountain.

The castle was first mentioned in year 1274, then named Luegg, when Aquileian patriarchs built the castle in gothic style. The castle was built under a natural rocky arch high in the stone wall to make access to it difficult. It was later annexed and re-shaped by family Luegg, also called Predjama knights. Erazem, who was the owner of the castle in 15th century, and a renowned robber, later joined king Matthias Corvinus, for which the current Emperor ordered Gašper Ravbar to assassinate him. After a long siege of the castle, Erazem was finally killed in 1483 by being tricked. The castle has fallen under Oberburg and Purgstall power.
In 1567 archduke Karel leased the castle to baron Philipp von Cobenzl, who bought off the castle after 20 years. He annexed the castle as early as 1570 and built a renaissance building, pressed next to a vertical cliff under the castle. The castle remained in such form until today. Count Michael Coronini von Cronberg inherited the castle in 1810 and it was property of family Windischgrätz from 1846 until the end of World War II. After the war it was nationalized and is now used as a museum for showing the life of medieval lords.
A secret natural shaft leads out of the castle, which Erazem ordered to be enlarged, and leads into Postojnska jama. This shaft allowed Erazem to secretly supply the castle with food in the time of the siege; he also used it to continue with his robberies.

Predjama Castle was used as the castle featured in the 1986 movie Armour of God by Golden Harvest starring Jackie Chan. It was also investigated for paranormal activity in a 2008 episode of Ghost Hunters International on the Sci Fi Channel.

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Things to do…

• Balista

This is not the ballista that killed Erasmus but a reconstructed model. Every year, at the end of August (we missed it by a week), there is a Medieval jousting tournament in front of the castle with costumed characters, etc more about the tournament

• Coat of arm

On the front of the castle, the date of 1570 is painted. This is when the castle that we see today was rebuilt in Renaissance style by baron Philipp von Cobenzl.

The coat of arm of the Coblenz is painted on the front of the castle. It is divided in four quarters. The pair diagonally opposed bears a wild mountain goat while the other pair bears an eagle.

• Predjamski Grad: interior

The visit of the castle is interesting. You can see see some rooms with ancient furnitures and paintings. In some rooms you can see manikins that help you to understand the life in that epoch. Very nice is the Pietas that you can see in the church. From the terrace on the fourth floor you can have a great view over the valley. An unicum in the visit is the Castle in the cave: here crossing a drawbridge you can see a cave which is also called Erazem’s den.

On the facade of the castle you can see the coat of arms of the Windischgrätz family.

• Dolls

There are many man-sized dolls in the castle, representing various occasions in life in castle.

• Armoury

I was disappointed because of lack of weapons and armor there, however….

• Cave

Under the Predjama Castle there’s also a nice cave. Every second person gets a torch light as there’s not electricity in the cave. It’s a complete different feeling do walk around in a cave with those torches, I loved it! Also in other caves you rarely can see bats as they avoid those illuminated parts, but here you could see lots of sleeping and flying bats. If you did lighten up a sleeping bat, it first started to turn, then the bat opened the eyes and suddenly flew around you! Very funny!

The guided tour takes 40 minutes, we had a tour in English.
Tours are at 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00, only from May to September.
Admission: 1100 SIT (Package of the castle and cave is 2000 SIT).

• Pivka & Črna (Black) cave

This is a very nice cave which is part of the Postojna cave system. Actually this are two separate caves, but are visited together. It’s fortunately less touristy than the Postojna cave – we’ve been only four persons at the guided tour. So our tour could be in German, but the guide also spoke English. The cave is situated at a camping place. A nice camping place, by the way, with bungalows and a pool, situated in the forest with lots of place (and trees) between all the motor homes.

In the Pivka cave, you first go along the river Pivka, on a path that sometimes gets flooded. That’s why they only open in summer and do special tours at the other times if the situation permits. You’ll see some small halls with lots of nice dripstones. In the Black cave, all dripstones are black from soot, as formerly people went there with flambeaus and made fire inside the cave. Both caves are connected by a tunnel.

The guided tour takes about one and a half hours. 20 Minutes of this time are the way back to the camping as the exit is somewhere else.
Guided tours are at 9:00, 13:00 and 15:00 (May to September).
Admission: 1690 SIT (20% rabate with ‘Show your card’). Tickets at the camping reception.

• Castle

Built into the cliff, in a beautiful valley this is a charming, picturesque, castle. Once you cross the bridge over the motte you feel like you went back 1000 years back in time. From within the castle you have great views of the valley and the river below.

See more images of the castle and the valley in the travelogue.

The castle is built above a cave which you can explore. A visit to the cave lasts 45 minutes.

Castle Time Table:

Jan-Mar, Nov-Dec: 10.00 – 16.00
Apr, Oct: 10.00 – 18.00
May-Sep: 9.00 – 19.00

Cave Time Table:

Jan-Apr: Closed
May-Sep: 11.00, 13.00, 15.00, 17.00
Oct-Dec: Closed

Phone: +386 / 5 / 751 60 15
Directions: Near the village of Predjama, a few km west of Postonja.
Website: http://www.postojnska-jama.si (see link to castle on the left)
Other Contact: e-mail:info@postojnska-jama.si

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Bannerman’s Castle

Pollepel Island is an island in the Hudson River. Also known as Pollopel Island, Pollopel’s Island and Bannerman Island, it is the site of Bannerman’s Castle. The principal feature on the island is Bannerman’s Castle, an abandoned military surplus warehouse. It was built in the style of a castle by businessman Francis Bannerman VI (1851–1918). It remains one of a very small number of structures in the United States which can properly be called a castle. Pollepel Island is sometimes referred to as Bannerman’s Island.

Francis Bannerman VI purchased the island in 1900 for use as a storage facility for his growing surplus business. After the Spanish-American War Bannerman bought 90% of the US army surplus, including a large quantity of ammunition. Because his storeroom in New York City was not large enough, and to provide a safe location to store munitions, in the spring of 1901 he began to build an arsenal on Pollepel.

Bannerman designed the buildings himself and let the constructors interpret the designs on their own. Most of the building were devoted to the stores of army surplus but Bannerman built another castle in a smaller scale on top of the island near the main structure as a residence, often using items from his surplus collection for decorative touches.

The castle, clearly visible from the shore of the river, served as a giant advertisement for his business. On the side of the castle facing the eastern bank of the Hudson, Bannerman cast the legend “Bannerman’s Island Arsenal” into the wall. Construction ceased at Bannerman’s death in 1918. In August 1920, 200 pounds of shells and powder exploded in an ancillary structure, destroying a portion of the complex. After the sinking of the ferryboat Pollepel, which had served the island, in a storm in 1950, the Arsenal and island were essentially left vacant.

The island and buildings were bought by New York State in 1967, after the old military merchandise had been removed, and tours of the island were given in 1968. However, on August 8, 1969, fire devastated the Arsenal, and the roofs and floors were destroyed. The island was placed off-limits to the public. The castle today Today, the castle is property of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and is mostly in ruins.

While the exterior walls still stand, all the internal floors and non-structural walls have since burned down. The island has been the victim of vandalism, trespass, neglect and decay. Several old bulkheads and causeways that submerge at high tide present a serious navigational hazard.

A substantial portion — perhaps the majority — of the remaining walls collapsed in early 2010.

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his most fanciful castle now lies in ruins, looming high above the river spreading age old myths and legends about the ghosts and spirits of the island and creating new ones as fresh generations discover this unique and haunting structure. Special boat tours to the island depart from Newburgh in season taking you out and around the island, retelling the tales and giving you the history and lore of both the island and the castle.

From shore, the best vantage point is from the Bannerman Island Scenic Overlook, located on Route 9 north of Cold Spring. Watch for a tiny seldom used rail platform for Metro-North called “Breakneck Ridge.” From here you will have your best land view of both the island and castle. In addition, the view includes the great North Gate of the Hudson Highlands and a sweeping panorama across and north up to Newburgh and beyond. A breathtaking view and scenic backdrop for one of the most curious and interesting places in the Hudson Valley.

During the summer months a cruise departs from Newburgh & Beacon taking you out to the island for a walking tour. It may be a little expensive, $40 per person when last we checked, but it is well worth the time and money. If for no other reason, the view from the island simply cannot be matched anywhere else in the Valley.

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Mont Saint Mishel

The slender towers and sky-scraping turrets of the abbey of Mont St-Michel are one of the classic images of northern France. Rising from flat white sands, the abbey sits atop a small island encircled by stout ramparts and battlements, connected to the mainland by an old causeway. Legend has it that the abbey was founded in the 8th century, when Aubert, the bishop of Avranches, was visited by the Archangel Michael in a dream; to this day the abbey is still crowned by a gilded copper statue of Michael slaying a dragon, symbolising the triumph of good over evil.

The bay around Mont St-Michel is famed for its extraordinary tides. Depending on the season and the gravitational pull of the moon, the difference between low and high tides can reach 15m, although the Mont is only completely surrounded by the sea during seasonal equinoxes. Regardless of the time of year, the waters sweep in at an astonishing rate; at low tide the Mont can be surrounded by bare sand for miles around, but at high tide, barely six hours later, the whole bay is often entirely submerged by the sea.

There are a few expensive hotels around the base of the Mont itself, but most people choose to stay at Beauvoir, right opposite the Mont, or Pontorson, about 5 miles inland from the bay. Unsurprisingly, for one of France’s top tourist attractions, the Mont is always packed with coach tours and bellowing kids at the start of the day – you’ll enjoy a much quieter visit if you turn up in late afternoon.

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Rocky islet and famous sanctuary in Manche département, Basse-Normandie région, off the coast of Normandy, France. It lies 41 miles (66 km) north of Rennes and 32 miles (52 km) east of Saint-Malo. Around its base are medieval walls and towers above which rise the clustered buildings of the village with the ancient abbey crowning the mount. One of the more popular tourist attractions in France, Mont-Saint-Michel was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.

Mont-Saint-Michel is almost circular (about 3,000 feet [900 metres] in circumference) and consists of a granite outcrop rising sharply (to 256 feet [78 metres]) out of Mont-Saint-Michel Bay (between Brittany and Normandy). Most of the time it is surrounded by vast sandbanks and becomes an island only when the tides are very high. Before the construction of the 3,000-foot causeway that connects the island to land, it was particularly difficult to reach because of quicksand and very fast-rising tides. The causeway, however, has become a barrier to the removal of material by the tides, resulting in higher sandbanks between the islet and the coast.

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The beautiful region of Normandy France has many sites of interest: the Bayeux Tapestry, Rhone Cathedral, and the D-Day beaches, among others. Of all Normandy’s outstanding sights, Mont St Michel—a UNESCO world heritage site—is the most famous. Its pyramid-like outline has become famous the world over and thousands of tourist flock each year for a Mont St. Michel tour.

Mont St Michel France is situated on a quasi-island on the Normandy coast, near Brittany. At high tide, Mont St Michel is almost entirely separated from the mainland. Only a narrow causeway, constructed in the 1880s preserves a link to the coast. (A bridge to replace the causeway and allow the circulation of tidal waters in the bay is scheduled for completion in 2012.) Beware: the tide comes in quickly—”à la vitesse d’un cheval au galop” (as swiftly as a galloping horse), as Victor Hugo claimed—many tourists have drowned attempting to cross the sandy bay.

Unlike other castles in France, which began as defensive structures (i.e., Carcassonne Castle) or pleasure palaces (i.e., Chenonceau Castle), Mont St Michel had its beginnings as a monastery. There has been a Christian shrine on the site since the eighth century and the first church was completed in 1144. By the thirteenth century, hundreds of Benedictine monks lived in the sturdy structures on Mont St Michel. They held out against the English when most of western France fell during the Hundred Years War.

The graceful Abbey of Mont St Michel that forms the peak of the island’s structures was completed in 1521 after centuries of construction. By the seventeenth century, the influence of monasteries was on the wane and by the time of the French Revolution Mont St Michel France was being used as a prison. Like other castles in France, Mont St Michel was falling into disrepair by the late nineteenthcentury. A thorough renovation was begun in 1873. The next few decades saw the construction of the causeway forming a permanent connection to the mainland and the heightening of the abbey’s steeple—it is now over 500 feet above sea level.

Today, Mont St Michel attracts over four million visitors a year, far more than most castles in France, making it one of the most popular things to do on a France vacation. The buildings are is open year-round. Admission is about $10 each ($25 for the four museums), but a guided Mont St. Michel tour is highly recommended (about $10 extra). A Mont St. Michel tour visits several otherwise inaccessible towers and rooms. If your French is up to par, there is a guided Mont St. Michel tour every half hour. English speakers should look for the twice-daily English-language tour (more in high season).

The little town of Mont St Michel France is spread around the bottom of the island outside the religious structures. There are several good hotels and restaurants around the island. There is something peculiarly romantic about spending a night on a rock cut off from the mainland, although the place is somewhat crowded in summertime.

Mont St Michel France has been described as the Merveille de l’Occident (wonder of the Western world). It is easy to see why.

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Potala Palace, Lhasa

The Potala Palace (Tibetan: Po-trang Po-ta-la; Chinese: Bùdála Gong) in Lhasa was the primary residence of the Dalai Lama until 1959, when the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala after a failed uprising.

Today the Potala Palace is a state museum, a popular tourist attraction, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was also recently named one of the “New Seven Wonders of the World” by the television show Good Morning America and the newspaper USA Today.

History

This hilltop site above the city of Lhasa originally hosted the meditation retreat of King Songtsen Gampo, who built the first palace there in 637 in order to greet his bride Princess Wencheng of China.

Construction of the present palace began in 1645 under the fifth Dalai Lama, Lobsang Gyatso, an important figure in Tibetan history. Known as the “Great Fifth,” he unified Tibet and made the Yellow Hat sect the state religion. The White Palace was completed in 1648, after which it was used as winter quarters by the Dalai Lama.

Construction on the Red Palace was still underway when the Great Fifth died in 1682. Fearing the project would be abandoned, the monks kept his death a secret for 10 years until the Red Palace was completed. In the meantime, the Dalai Lama was impersonated by a monk who looked most like him.

In 1959, the current Dalai Lama fled to India amid riots against the Chinese military occupation of Tibet; he remains in exile today. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-77), the remaining monks were expelled and the abandoned palace was looted and damaged by Chinese soldiers.

Today, only a few monks are allowed to occupy the Potala Palace under strict supervision and Tibetan pilgrims are not generally admitted to the shrines. The Chinese government operates the palace as a state museum and has recently renovated the building to attract foreign tourists.

What to See

Built on a rocky hill overlooking the city of Lhasa, the Potala Palace has a sturdy fortress-like appearance. It contains more than a thousand rooms spreading over an area of 1,300 feet by 1,000 feet. The stone walls are 16 feet thick at the base, but more finely constructed (without the use of nails) in the upper stories.

The palace is fronted by a great plaza at the south base of the rock, enclosed by walls and gates. A series of fairly easy staircases, broken by intervals of gentle ascent, leads to the summit of the rock. It is important to become acclimated to the high altitude of Lhasa before making the climb.

The Potala Palace is made of two main parts, easily distinguished by their color: the Red Palace and White Palace. The two are joined by a smaller, yellow-painted structure that houses the sacred banners hung on the exterior for the New Year festivals. The rooms inside the palace are identified by numbers as well as names.

Red Palace

The heart of the complex is the Red Palace (Potrang Marpo), painted a deep red and used primarily for religious purposes. Richly decorated with painting, jewelled work, carving and other ornament, it contains several shrines and the tombs of eight past Dalai Lamas. Before the tombs are precious votive offerings, including a pagoda made of 200,000 pearls.

Especially celebrated throughout the Red Palace is the fifth Dalai Lama, whose life story is depicted in murals. His mummified body rests inside a 50-foot stupa covered with four tons of gold and encrusted with semi-precious stones. In another chapel he is shown enthroned as an equal to the Buddha. Also impressive is the golden tomb-stupa of the last Dalai Lama (d. 1933), who made Tibet an independent country.

The Red Palace also houses the monks’ assembly hall, numerous chapels and shrines (dedicated to the full extent of Tibet’s pantheon of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, saints and demons) and libraries of important Tibetan Buddhist scriptures (the Kangyur in 108 volumes and the Tengyur in 225, all hand-painted from carved wooden blocks).

White Palace

Surrounding the Red Palace is the secular White Palace (Potrang Karpo), the former home of the Dalai Lama and his monks. Originally built in the 1650s, it was extended to its present size by the 13th Dalai Lama in the early 1900s. In addition to monastic living quarters, the White Palace contained offices, the seminary for training Tibetan government officials and the printing house.

The most important shrine in the Potala is the Saint’s Chapel in the White Palace, which contains a revered statue of Chenrezi, bodhisattva of compassion. Below the Saint’s Chapel is the Dharma Cave, where King Songtsen Gampo studied the Buddhist scriptures after his conversion in the 7th century. These rooms are the oldest part of the Potala Palace.

Quick Facts

Site Information

• Names: Potala Palace; Bùdála Gong
• Location: Lhasa, Tibet
• Faith: Buddhism
• Denomination: Tibetan
• Order: Yellow Hat
• Categories: Castles and Palaces; Buddhist Monasteries; World Heritage Sites
• Date: Founded 637; present building mostly 17th cent.
• Status: museum

Visitor Information

• Coordinates: 29.657715° N, 91.117233° E (view on Google Maps)
• Lodging: View hotels near this location
• Phone: 0891/683-4362
• Opening hours: 9am-3pm daily. Admission is limited to 2,500 visitors per day. Reservations must be made a few hours to one day in advance. Entry time is assigned when the ticket is purchased.
• Cost: General admission ¥100; admission to relics museum and roof additional ¥10 each

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