Ciastel de Val - Ruine Wolkenstein
Castle · Dolomites
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Ciastel de Val, known in German as Wolkenstein, has stood on a dolomite rock cleft at the entrance to Vallunga since the 13th century, guarding the passage from the Gardena Pass into Val Badia. It became the seat of the Wolkenstein-Trostburg family and hosted the poet-composer Oswald von Wolkenstein. Rockfall destroyed its eastern wall in 1525 and it was never rebuilt; the south wall and forecourt still stand.
Venetian forces captured the castle during their wars with Tyrol in the 15th century, before it returned to Wolkenstein hands. The ruin sits over 1600 metres up the rock wall of Piz de Stevia, a 2555-metre peak in the Puez group, at the entrance to Vallunga. The family held it until rockfall left it uninhabitable, then built Fischburg, a new residence on the valley floor near Selva, about a century later. Fischburg became the family's permanent seat; the fortress above Vallunga was never reoccupied.
What you see
The ruin grips a cleft in the Stevia cliff face, its walls rising straight out of the rock like a nest wedged into the cliff.
Practical
A steep path from Vallunga, past the Carabinieri training centre, reaches the ruin in about five minutes; it is open, weather permitting, through the summer months, and children under 14 need adult supervision.
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