A cave castle (German: Höhlenburg) or grotto castle (German: Grottenburg) is a residential or refuge castle that has been built into a natural cave. It falls within the category of hill castles. Unlike other types (such as water castles), such castles can only be assaulted from the front, or by drilling through the rock above; the gateway is usually located in the middle of a rock face, which makes it much more difficult to penetrate. Archaeological discoveries have revealed that caves were used as places of refuge as early as the Stone Age. The first medieval cave castles emerged in the 11th and 12th centuries. In the 14th and 15th centuries this type became more widespread, especially in certain parts of France and Switzerland.
The actual cave castle was generally built at the foot of a high rock face and at the level of one or more steep scree slopes; they are however quite rare in mountainous regions, for example in North Tyrol only four sites are known to date: Altfinstermünz in the Upper Inn valley, Loch near Unter-Pinswang, Lueg am Brenner and one in the Herrenhauswand near Schwendt/Kössen. In several regions in Switzerland and France, soft rock material provides a good basis for the construction of cave and grotto castles. There are considerably more of this type in Graubünden, Ticino, Valais or the Dordogne than, for example, in Bavaria or the Tyrol. The domestic buildings and stables were generally sited in the valley bottom beneath, because the cave was often only accessible over steep and narrow paths; excavations have revealed the relatively high standard of living in several cave castles, other sites may only have been inhabited part of the time and guarded mountain passes or important road links. For similar reasons, most of them had no bergfried or other towers, one exception is Loch Castle near Eichhofen in Bavaria, that has an imposing round one at the front.
In many cases, the cave or grotto was simply sealed by a frontal wall and divided internally by stone or wooden partitions, however several were later turned into representative seats and expanded accordingly: for example Stein Castle and Predjama Castle. From an engineering perspective the cave castle is closely related to the rock castle; here too natural or artificially widened rock openings were incorporated into the structure. In Central Europe, many such rock castles have been preserved in the sandstone regions of south and central Germany or Bohemia, including those in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, the Palatinate Forest and in the Haßberge Hills.
Cave castles and grotto castles
In the technical literature a distinction is made between cave and grotto castles. In the case of the latter an entire castle was built in front of, or within, a natural grotto (e.g. Predjama Castle), whilst in the case of a cave castle, the cave was only closed off with a front wall and divided internally by wooden or stone partitions, although in popular usage both terms are used more or less interchangeably.
^Pringle, Denys (1997). 'Ain al-Habis (No. 10). Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: An Archaeological Gazetteer. Cambridge University Press. p. 18. ISBN9780521460101. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
^Pringle, Denys (1997). Magharat Fakhr ad-Din (No. 141). Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: An Archaeological Gazetteer. Cambridge University Press. p. 67. ISBN9780521460101. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
^Pringle, Denys (1997). Tirun an-Niha (No. 225). Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: An Archaeological Gazetteer. Cambridge University Press. p. 103. ISBN9780521460101. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
^Pringle, Denys (1997). Jabal Quruntul (No. 109). Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: An Archaeological Gazetteer. Cambridge University Press. p. 52. ISBN9780521460101. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
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April 30, 2023
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A cave castle German Hohlenburg or grotto castle German Grottenburg is a residential or refuge castle that has been built into a natural cave It falls within the category of hill castles Unlike other types such as water castles such castles can only be assaulted from the front or by drilling through the rock above the gateway is usually located in the middle of a rock face which makes it much more difficult to penetrate Archaeological discoveries have revealed that caves were used as places of refuge as early as the Stone Age The first medieval cave castles emerged in the 11th and 12th centuries In the 14th and 15th centuries this type became more widespread especially in certain parts of France and Switzerland Predjama grotto castle near Postojna Adelsberg Slovenia Kropfenstein Castle near Waltensburg Vuorz Graubunden Switzerland Contents 1 Location and layout 2 Cave castles and grotto castles 3 Other examples 4 Literature 5 See also 6 ReferencesLocation and layout EditThe actual cave castle was generally built at the foot of a high rock face and at the level of one or more steep scree slopes they are however quite rare in mountainous regions for example in North Tyrol only four sites are known to date Altfinstermunz in the Upper Inn valley Loch near Unter Pinswang Lueg am Brenner and one in the Herrenhauswand near Schwendt Kossen In several regions in Switzerland and France soft rock material provides a good basis for the construction of cave and grotto castles There are considerably more of this type in Graubunden Ticino Valais or the Dordogne than for example in Bavaria or the Tyrol The domestic buildings and stables were generally sited in the valley bottom beneath because the cave was often only accessible over steep and narrow paths excavations have revealed the relatively high standard of living in several cave castles other sites may only have been inhabited part of the time and guarded mountain passes or important road links For similar reasons most of them had no bergfried or other towers one exception is Loch Castle near Eichhofen in Bavaria that has an imposing round one at the front In many cases the cave or grotto was simply sealed by a frontal wall and divided internally by stone or wooden partitions however several were later turned into representative seats and expanded accordingly for example Stein Castle and Predjama Castle From an engineering perspective the cave castle is closely related to the rock castle here too natural or artificially widened rock openings were incorporated into the structure In Central Europe many such rock castles have been preserved in the sandstone regions of south and central Germany or Bohemia including those in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains the Palatinate Forest and in the Hassberge Hills Cave castles and grotto castles EditIn the technical literature a distinction is made between cave and grotto castles In the case of the latter an entire castle was built in front of or within a natural grotto e g Predjama Castle whilst in the case of a cave castle the cave was only closed off with a front wall and divided internally by wooden or stone partitions although in popular usage both terms are used more or less interchangeably Other examples EditWolkenstein Castle in Groden South Tyrol Italy Stein Castle in Stein an der Traun Bavaria Germany Predjama Castle Slovenia Puxerloch cave castles Luegg dubious discuss and Schallaun near Frojach in the Styria Austria Kronmetz Castle Italy Luegstein Castle near Oberaudorf Bavaria Germany Wichenstein Castle near Oberriet St Gallen Switzerland Qal at Ibn Maan 17th century Galilee IsraelCastles from the Crusader states in the Middle EastCave de Sueth Cave de Suete or Habis Jaldak Yarmouk Valley Jordan 1 Magharat Fakhr ad Din inland of Sidon Lebanon 2 Fortress of Niha or Cave de Tyron Tirun an Niha stood at the centre of the Lordship of Sidon Lebanon 3 Jebel Quruntul Docus castellum Abrahami Templar cave castle on the mountain overlooking Jericho West Bank Palestine 4 Rappenstein Castle near Untervaz Graubunden Switzerland Balm Castle near Balm Solothurn Switzerland Loch Castle near Eichhofen Bavaria Grottenstein Castle near Haldenstein Graubunden Switzerland Fracstein Castle near Seewis Graubunden SwitzerlandLiterature EditOtto Piper Burgenkunde Nachdruck der Ausgabe von 1912 Weltbild Augsburg 1994 ISBN 3 89350 554 7 p 554 559 Maxi Zier Mittelalterliche Hohlenburgen In Basler Zeitschrift fur Geschichte und Altertumskunde No 65 1965 ISSN 0067 4540 p 53 62 See also EditCastle Rock castleReferences Edit Pringle Denys 1997 Ain al Habis No 10 Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem An Archaeological Gazetteer Cambridge University Press p 18 ISBN 9780521460101 Retrieved 17 July 2019 Pringle Denys 1997 Magharat Fakhr ad Din No 141 Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem An Archaeological Gazetteer Cambridge University Press p 67 ISBN 9780521460101 Retrieved 17 July 2019 Pringle Denys 1997 Tirun an Niha No 225 Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem An Archaeological Gazetteer Cambridge University Press p 103 ISBN 9780521460101 Retrieved 17 July 2019 Pringle Denys 1997 Jabal Quruntul No 109 Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem An Archaeological Gazetteer Cambridge University Press p 52 ISBN 9780521460101 Retrieved 17 July 2019 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Castles in caves Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cave castle amp oldid 1081931570, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
