Schönrain Priory Ruins, Lohr am Main, Germany

Schönrain Priory was a house of the Benedictine Order located near Lohr in the Spessart. There is a legend that it was originally founded in the Carolingian period, in about 750, by Saint Lioba, and some have argued that a few traces of architecture from that period survive. However, firm information on this place is available only from the 11th century, when the monastery, with some property to endow it, was given by Counts Ludwig and Beringer of Sangerhausen to Hirsau Abbey, against the background of the Investiture Controversy and the Hirsau Reforms. It was duly re-founded as a priory of Hirsau.

The Vögte (or lay stewards) were the Counts of Rieneck, kin of the founders, who persistently over the next centuries tried to acquire the property for themselves. Eventually, after severe damages sustained during the German Peasants' War, the then Abbot of Hirsau dissolved the monastery at Schönrain and sold the premises to the Rieneck family, who re-built it as a residence.

The site, after a number of descents, passed to the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg, who used it as accommodation for their forestry officials. It was secularised in 1802 and continued in use by the forestry officials of the Kingdom of Bavaria. When their headquarters was moved elsewhere, the buildings at Schönrain were stripped for building materials, and the site has been in ruins since that time.

Since 1973 the site and the ruins have been under the protection of a local environmental and historical preservation group, the Lohrer Heimatfreunde.

Walls of Constantinople

The Walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification system of antiquity, and one of the most complex and elaborate systems ever built. They were also the largest and strongest fortification in both the ancient and medieval world.

Initially built by Constantine the Great, the walls surrounded the new city on all sides, protecting it against attack from both sea and land. As the city grew, the famous double line of the Theodosian Walls was built in the 5th century. Although the other sections of the walls were less elaborate, they were, when well-manned, almost impregnable for any medieval besieger.

Avneet Kaur (4 years ago)
Beautiful view of Main and the city from the tower. You can take your car till the top or can walk to the ruins by parking the car down at the foot of the hill. Very isolated place not too many visitors.

Solomon Iosif (5 years ago)
Ok

Schorsch K (5 years ago)
A twenty minutes steep walk thru the Forrest brings you up to amazing left overs of a huge castle. Volunteers seem to keep it up well.

Schönrain Priory Ruins

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