Castle
Brunnenburg
🇮🇹 Italy · 13th century
Brunnenburg (Italian: Castel Fontana, Castel Brunnenburg) is a 13th-century castle in the province of South Tyrol, in northern Italy.
Schloss Brunnenburg is situated above the city of Merano, on the outskirts of the municipality of Tirol. Originally built circa 1250, the castle was completely restored and updated in the mid-20th century by Boris de Rachewiltz, an Egyptologist, and his wife Mary, daughter of the poet Ezra Pound and violinist Olga Rudge; Mary lived there until her death in 2026. Surrounding the castle is the family's vineyard.
Pound stayed with his daughter and her family at the castle in 1958 after he returned from the United States. It was there that he wrote the last six of his 116 "cantos" of The Cantos.
The Ezra Pound Centre for Literature was established at the castle by his daughter, where students come from all over the world to study the poet's works. A large guesthouse on the castle grounds is used as temporary housing for students, usually for a semester at a time.
Text adapted from “Brunnenburg” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Brunnenburg ranks #3,150 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #253 of the 487 mapped in Italy. Founded c. 1250, it is older than 69% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 860 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 4,448 times in the last 60 days, more than 83% of the atlas. 8 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Innsbruck, 67 km away. It is one of the 22 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of South Tyrol. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.
View on the interactive castle map →Frequently asked questions
Where is Brunnenburg?
Brunnenburg stands in Italy, at 46.6919°, 11.14788°.
When was Brunnenburg built?
The atlas dates its founding to c. 1250. Earlier structures may have stood on the site; this is the earliest documented founding year.
How famous is Brunnenburg?
In this atlas's fame ranking: #3,150 of 8,133 worldwide, and #253 in Italy. Fame here combines how many Wikipedia language editions cover a landmark with how many people read them.
What is the nearest castle to Brunnenburg?
Tirol Castle, about 1 km away.
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