The castle hill has been inhabited since ancient times. Several artefacts and one field of graves from the early
Middle Ages have been identified.
Archeologists have excavated a church with three
apses dating from the early Christian period. The first castle was built before 1100. The second construction phase including the
keep dates to 1139/40. A third phase of construction took place in the second half of the 13th century under Count
Meinhard II of Gorizia-Tyrol. In 1347 Meinhard's granddaughter Countess
Margaret of Tyrol was besieged here by the forces of the
Luxembourg king
Charles IV. The castle remained the seat of Tyrol's sovereigns until 1420, when the
Habsburg archduke
Frederick IV moved the administrative seat to
Innsbruck north of the
Brenner Pass. In modern times parts of the castle fell into the so-called
"Köstengraben", a steep gorge. It was even sold in order to be used as a quarry. In the 19th century the castle was restored; the keep was rebuilt in 1904. Regarding art history, the
frescos of the castle's chapel are of special interest as well as two
Romanesque portals with opulent
marble sculptures showing
legendary creatures, religious themes, and geometric
ornaments. The chapel also houses the oldest-known painting of the
coat of arms of Tyrol, the Red Eagle. The castle has served as the site of a museum since the early 1980s. Since then, the late Middle Ages have yielded a series of amazing archaeological discoveries. Since 2003, Tyrol Castle houses the . Next to the castle there is a
falconry with a nursing ward for birds of prey. File:Schloss Tirol 02.jpg |Exterior File:Tirol Schloss 03.jpg |Courtyard File:Tirol Schloss 04.jpg |Romanesque portal of the castle's chapel File:Tirol Schloss 05.jpg |Portal of the chapel, detail ==See also==