| Most tourists of the area come for the mighty Riegersburg Castle, though. It is situated some ten kilometres north of Feldbach on the remains of a volcano - a cliff in the middle of otherwise gentle hills, which by itself makes the fortress an impressive sight. The oldest foundations of the Riegersburg date back to 1120, although most of the current buildings was erected over the course of the 17th century. In 1822, it was bought by the Princes of Liechtenstein, who still own it and occupy some of the rooms.
It was also built on volcanic rock (482 metres high) and is private property of the Prince of Liechtenstein. Most of today′s castle was built in the 17th century; this includes a total of three kilometres of defence walls to protect the plateau of the rock. It is open to visitors and contains a museum of witches and witch prosecution ("Hexenmuseum"). |