{{Short description|Renaissance castle built within a cave}} {{more citations needed|date=March 2014}} thumb|right|300px|Predjama Castle '''Predjama Castle''' ({{langx|sl|Predjamski grad}} or {{lang|sl|grad Predjama}}, German: ''Höhlenburg Lueg'', {{langx|it|Castel Lueghi}}; {{langx|vec|Casteło de Predjama}}) is a Renaissance castle built within a cave mouth in south-central Slovenia, in the historical region of Inner Carniola. It is located in the village of Predjama, approximately 11 kilometres from the town of Postojna and 9 kilometres from Postojna Cave.<ref name="Predjamski grad">{{cite web|title=Predjamski grad|url=http://www.postojnska-jama.eu/en/other-sites/predjama-castle/|publisher=Postojnska jama|access-date=18 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813045558/http://www.postojnska-jama.eu/en/other-sites/predjama-castle|archive-date=13 August 2013}}</ref>
==History== [[File:Das Schloss Prediama in Crein XII Stund.jpg|thumbnail|left|1816 lithography of the castle by Karl Friedrich Schinkel]] The castle was first mentioned in 1274 with the German name ''Luegg'', when the Patriarch of Aquileia built the castle in Gothic style. The castle was built under a natural rocky arch high in the stone wall to make access to it difficult. It was later acquired and expanded by the Luegg noble family, also known as the Knights of Adelsberg (the German name of Postojna).
===The legend of Erasmus of Lueg=== thumb|Cave of Predjama Castle The castle became known as the seat of the knight Erasmus of Lueg (or Luegg, Luegger), lord of the castle in the 15th century and a renowned robber baron.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grey |first=Sidney |date=1876 |title=Picturesque Europe.—Florence.—I |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/20637319 |journal=The Aldine |volume=8 |issue=6 |pages=84, 85 |doi=10.2307/20637319 |jstor=20637319 |issn=2151-4186|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He was the son of the imperial governor of Trieste, Nikolaj Lueger.
According to legend, Erasmus came into conflict with the Habsburgs when he killed the commander of the imperial army, Marshal Pappenheim, who had offended the honour of Erasmus's deceased friend and famous condottiere Andrej Baumkircher of Vipava. Fleeing the vengeance of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, Erasmus reached the family fortress of Predjama. From there, he allied himself with King Matthias Corvinus and began to attack Habsburg estates and towns in Carniola. The emperor commissioned the governor of Trieste, Andrej Ravbar, with the capture or killing of Erasmus. Erasmus was killed after a long siege. According to a popular but unfounded legend, Erasmus was betrayed by one of his men and was killed by a shot from a cannon in his lavatory.<ref>{{cite news |title=Erazem Predjamski ni umrl na stranišču |url=https://www.dnevnik.si/1042578395 |access-date=November 21, 2018 |work=Dnevnik |date=February 27, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Erazem Predjamski">{{cite web|title=Erazem Predjamski|url=http://skerazem.org/Erazem-Predjamski.html|publisher=SK Erazem|access-date=18 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301125856/http://skerazem.org/Erazem-Predjamski.html|archive-date=1 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==== Hidden passageway ==== A vertical natural shaft, which Erasmus ordered to be enlarged, leads out of the original castle, and leads to the exit located at the top of the cliff, 25 meters away from the cliff's edge. During the siege, this shaft allowed Erasmus to secretly supply the castle with food and to continue with his robberies.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fletcher |first1=Margaret |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv13vdhr2 |title=Architectural Styles: A Visual Guide |last2=Polley |first2=Robbie |date=2020 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-20807-7 |pages=99|jstor=j.ctv13vdhr2 }}</ref>
=== After reconstruction === After the siege and destruction of the original castle, its ruins were acquired by the Oberburg family. In 1511, the second castle, built by the Purgstall family in the first decade of the 16th century, was destroyed in an earthquake. In 1567, Archduke Charles of Austria leased the castle to Baron Philipp von Cobenzl, who paid it off after 20 years. In 1570, the current castle was built in the Renaissance style, pressed next to a vertical cliff under the original medieval fortification. The castle has remained in this form, virtually unchanged, to the present day.
In the 18th century, it became one of the favourite summer residences of the Cobenzl family, together with nearby Haasberg Castle. Both the Austrian statesman and art collector Philipp von Cobenzl and the diplomat Count Ludwig von Cobenzl spent time in the castle.
In 1810, the castle was inherited by Count Michael Coronini von Cronberg, and in 1846 it was sold to the Windischgrätz family, who remained its owners until the end of World War II, when it was confiscated and nationalized by the Yugoslav Communist authorities and turned into a museum.
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Predjama Castle}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20130813045558/http://www.postojnska-jama.eu/en/other-sites/predjama-castle Predjama Castle]. Postojna Cave. * [http://www.burger.si/Predjama/ENGPredjama.html Virtual panoramas of Predjama castle]. Burger.si. <br /> {{Postojna}} {{Castles in Slovenia}} {{coord|45|48|55|N|14|07|36|E|display=title}}
Category:Castles in Inner Carniola Category:Cultural monuments of Slovenia Category:Municipality of Postojna Category:Cave castles Category:Renaissance architecture in Slovenia