Juval Castle

Juval Castle (German: Schloss Juval; Italian: Castel Juval [kaˈstɛl juˈval]) is a medieval castle located at the entrance of the Schnalstal, in the Vinschgau, above the village of Naturns in the comune of Kastelbell-Tschars at around 1000 meters above sea level, in South Tyrol, northern Italy. It derives its name from the Latin name of the mountain, Mons Jovis (mountain of Jupiter).

The oldest account of the castle dates to 1278, when it was owned by Hugo of Montalban. It was probably constructed about thirty years before the first account referencing it. In 1368, it was acquired by the lords of Starkenberg, and in 1540, it passed to Sinkmoser. The period from its construction to the mid-1500s was the castle's heyday.

After several more changes of ownership, in 1813, it was sold to a local farmer, Josef Blaas. The castle was passed down through generations and was owned by the Blaas family until World War II, when it was taken over by the Nazis.

Text adapted from “Juval Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Juval Castle ranks #2,810 of 3,691 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #235 of the 288 mapped in Italy. Founded 1250, it is older than 74% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 356 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗