Castelli Del Tirolo: Castello Di Ambras 🇦🇹 Innsbruck, Austria

The Ambras Castle is located southeast of Innsbruck a few hundred meters above the Inn Valley In a strategic position for controlling the valley It gained significance not only regionally It was the fixed residence of the counts of Andex originating from Upper Bavaria The Andechs founders of the city of Innsbruck in 1180 They were rich and powerful lords given that their possessions extended from the Tyrol Until the Adriatic Sea The ancient castle was destroyed in 1133 From Duke Guelfo of Bavaria Henry the Proud in war with the Andex In 1248 the ruins of the manor and the property They passed in succession to Count Albert IV of Tyrol Subsequently the castle went to inheritance To Mainardo II of Tyrol-Gorizia and remained in possession of this family from then on until 1363 when the entire Tyrol was ceded by the last descenda Of the Margherita dynasty to the Habsburgs Ambras remained in the possession of the Habsburgs until the end of their reign in 1919 The golden period for Ambras began when Archduke Ferdinand II nephew of Emperor Maximilian I From 1564 the year of his appointment as Prince Regent of Tyrol The old medieval fortress was transformed into a Renaissance castle Ferdinando the governor of Prague was driven by a great passion for collecting On the occasion of his transfer to Innsbruck The archduke had 347 hundredweights of gold and armor transported To fulfill the social obligations required by one's position The prince had a vast hall built on the ground floor of the upper castle Hochkloss among the most beautiful and artistically significant of the Late Renaissance The Hochkloss has contained since 1976 A rich collection of portraits in the Portret Gallery which tells the story of the Habsburgs from the 14th century until the time of Napoleon This part of the castle It is built around a rectangular courtyard e walls are fresco-painted with various shades of gray Those that create the impression of a relief surface a historical and cultural rarity It is represented by the ground- floor bathroom a copper-plated tub In which a stool is placed that allows you to enjoy the bath while sitting Not only the environment decorated with frescoes and water could be heated The historical and cultural significance of the castle comes from the fact that the archduke gathered there His already renowned series of armor and weapons joins the portrait collection Natural history specimens books rare and exotic objects and jewelry The armory was housed in an additional building Added in 1589 to the west of the complex The collections already aroused great interest and attention among the educated people at the time So guests even came from afar to admire the wonders of Ferdinand The monumental complex is located in a large park of 20 hectares The hunting reserve begins here To the south on a high rocky cliff It hides a cave the so-called Cave of Bacchus