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Finkenstein am Faaker See
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Finkenstein Castle was first mentioned in 1142. It was owned by the Dukes of Carinthia who gave it to their ministeriales, who called themselves after the castle von Finkenstein. In 1223 there was a dispute between Heinrich von Finkenstein and Bishop Henry of Bamberg, the owner of the nearby castle Federaun regarding the crossing of the river Gail. After the extinction of the Carinthian Finkensteins at the beginning of the 14th Century, the ownership was passed back to the Dukes of Carinthia, which had been the Habsburg since 1335. Emperor Maximilian I, Duke of Carinthia since 1493 gave the castle and the rule to his liegeman Sigismund von Dietrichstein, whose descendants held the castle still 1861. Since the end of the 18th century, it is no longer inhabited and decayed, only ruins remain.
The oldest parts of the castle are Romanesque. In the second half of the 16th century, was rebuilt in late Gothic style. At the beginning of this century, four gates were built in the High Castle. The 15 m high end wall of the former palace still stands today.
Today Finkenstein Castle Ruin is the backdrop of the Burgarena, an amphitheatre with 1150 seats mainly used for concerts.
References:Château de Niort is a medieval castle in the French town of Niort. It consists of two square towers, linked by a 15th-century building and dominates the Sèvre Niortaise valley.
The two donjons are the only remaining part of the castle. The castle was started by Henry II Plantagenet in the 12th century and completed by Richard the Lionheart. It was defended by a rectangular curtain wall and was damaged during the Wars of Religion. In the 18th century, the castle served as a prison.
The present keeps were the central point of a massive fortress. The southern keep is 28m tall, reinforced with turrets. The northern tower is slightly shorter at 23m. Both are flanked with circular turrets at the corners as well as semicircular buttresses. Each of the towers has a spiral staircase serving the upper floors. The Romanesque architecture is of a high quality with the dressed stones closely jointed.