Prösels Castle

Prösels Castle (German: Schloss Prösels; Italian: Castello di Presule) is a castle in the Gothic style which stands on the high plain below the Schlern mountain, in South Tyrol. Prösels is a location within the municipal boundaries of the commune of Völs am Schlern (Fiè allo Sciliar).

The castle was first named in a document from 1279, as castrum Presil, whereas the settlement close to the castle compares in 1373 as Bresels. It is believed that the lords of Völs, feudatories of the Bishopric of Brixen, had built the castle here just by 1200. Today the central palace with a Romanesque archway are surviving parts of this first fortress.

In Italian it is sometimes called Castel Colonna, reflecting the fact that around the time of Leonhard II the Völs (Fiè) family started to add the Colonna family name to their own. The reason for this is unclear, although a number of hypotheses have been advanced. According to some the family originated as a branch of the Colonnas who came to Tyrol in the twelfth century; others believe that Leonhard II, fighting alongside Marcantonio Colonna (1535–1584) at the Battle of Lepanto, was affirming his family’s origins in the Colonnas of Tusculum. A third version speculates that Marcantonio adopted Leonhard in order to enable the latter to display his membership of the noble Roman dynasty. Most probably, perhaps, Leonhard II simply requested and obtained the right to add the name Colonna to his own.

The Gothic castle of today was built by Leonhard of Völs (born 1458). He was the administrator of the salt mines of Hall in Tirol, a highly profitable position, furthermore he was married three times to wealthy noblewomen, which enabled him to spend extravagantly on the expansion of his castle. In 1498 Leonhard, thanks to his friendship with the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Archduke of Austria, became governor of the County of Tyrol. Leonhard showed his gratitude by including the emperor on one of the frescoes in the newly built arcade of his castle.

During the Peasants' War of 1525 the castle was briefly occupied by the revolting subservient farmers, who burnt all the documents in the vain hope of destroying all proof of their debts and tithes. The uprising was squashed and six leaders executed. Leonhard of Völs also instigated the burning of nine local woman for witchcraft.

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

Prösels Castle ranks #4,709 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #357 of the 487 mapped in Italy. Founded 1200, it is older than 77% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 564 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,585 times in the last 60 days, more than 61% of the atlas. Wikidata records about 9,484 visitors in 2021. 9 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Innsbruck, 85 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 →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗