Castel Rodengo

Near the parish church of Rodengo you can visit one of the most impressive fortresses of South Tyrol. However, its unique position is only one of the numerous highlights it has to offer. Its rooms and cellars hide between the robust curtain walls. This castle from the 12th century rises on a hill overlooking the Rienza basin and was built by its then owner, Friedrich von Rodank, who sold it around 1300.

In the 16th century the monument became a property of Oswald von Wolkenstein's family who renovated and enlarged it. Oswald von Wolkenstein was a famous minnesänger whose descendants still own the castle today. The ancient walls house a museum and a part of the castle is even inhabited. Most of the furniture displayed in the exhibition rooms dates back to the late Renaissance.

The frescoes dedicated to the cycle of Iwein which decorate the walls of the residence building are definitely worth a visit. Painted around 1200 and 1220 these wall paintings rediscovered only in 1972, are one of the first examples of profane frescoes in the German-speaking area. The central theme of the eleven paintings is the legend of Iwein, one of the 12 knights of King Arthur's Round Table.