Bled Castle (Slovenia)

Judging from written documents is the oldest castle in Slovenia, he is having been nominated for the first time in the act of donation as Castellum Veldes (1011).

On a steep cliff that rises 130 meters above the mirror of the lake (glacial), there is the symbol of Bled and Slovenia - Bled Castle The image of the castle above the lake, with the romantic island and the church, is the one feature of Bled that through the ages has become recognizable in Slovenia and in the world. From the Castle terraces offer spectacular views of the lake and the island, the small Dežela region and the towns of Lesce and Radovljica and the mountains Karavanke and Julian Alps.

over a thousand years have passed since April 10, 1004, when the German Emperor in Trent Henry II gave it to the bishop of Bressanone Albuino the feud Carniola Bled. In 1011 Henry II, with the new deed of gift to the successor of Albuino, Adalberon, he donated the castle on the cliff (castellum Veldes). In this second act of donation, the castle was first mentioned in a document kept. Bled Castle was the administrative center of the Brixen estate in Upper Carniola (Gorenjska). Medieval documents refer to Bled with its German name Veldes. The Bled Castle, to its first documented mention, is the oldest castle in Slovenia. The castle buildings are arranged around two courtyards, the lower and the upper.

Many eminent travelers spread the fame of the beauties of Bled and its castle; among them Johann Weichard Valvasor in his Glory of the Carniola Dukedom of 1689.

Bled, for its favorable nodal position, in all periods of history it was an important theater of diplomatic and protocol meetings at the highest level. Many important statesmen have visited Bled Castle, enjoying the unique panorama of the surrounding beauty.