It wasn’t actually a detour at all, but it sounded nice as a heading for my post! We were leaving Bled in Slovenia and driving to an Italian hotel not far from Venice in Italy. And the fastest route took us north from Bled into Austria and then south again into Italy at Tarvisio. But instead of taking the faster motorway route we turned off and drove small roads through Finkenstein am Faaker See.
And at Finkenstein we ventured into the mountains and come across a ruined castle, Burgruine Finkenstein. The castle is first mentioned in the 12th century, when it belonged to the Prince-Bishops of Bamberg. Finkenstein castle has seen many fights. One bishop was held prisoner at the Finkenstein Castle by Duke Bernhard of Carinthia and as a consequence the duke was excommunicated by the Pope.
Emperor Frederick III, Duke of Carinthia had his consort, Eleanor of Portugal, brought to safety at Finkenstein, while he was besieged by his brother Archduke Albert VI in Vienna in the beginning of the 15th C. But since the end of the 18th C Finkenstein was no longer inhabited and it decayed until now only the ruins remains.
But what wonderful ruins it was. Situated at 850m above sea level on a hill that made it easily defensible in old times. It was surrounded by fields and forest the low-lying clouds sweeping by and the sun lighting up the trees dressed in autumnal colours.
Nearby is the church of Kanzianiberg situated on another hill and a little bit further on was another totally vertical outcrop, which mountaineers had converted to a training centre for limbers, Kanziani Klettergarten.
