Fontana Castle

Several castles and museums are concentrated in a small space in area of Tirolo village. Two of them stand one above the other: Tyrol Castle with the South Tyrolean Museum of Cultural and Regional History and, below it, Fontana Castle with its Agricultural Museum. When it was built in the mid-13th century by the Tarant family, Castle Tyrol was already standing.

Fontana Castle fell visibly into disrepair in the centuries that followed - around 1600 it was already described as "old and decaying". At the beginning of the 20th century, a private buyer let the castle be rebuilt. It finally became famous in the late 1950s when the American poet Ezra Pound (1885-1972) chose it as his residence. He completed his oeuvre, the Cantos, here. From 1962 until his death, he was registered as a citizen of Tirolo, and a memorial site in the castle is dedicated to him. Many legends and stories surround the estate, most of them tell of a hidden treasure.

Today it houses the Fontana Castle Museum, which is dedicated to topics such as folklore and folk art. To the delight of young visitors, farm animals are also at home at the castle. Goats, donkeys and rabbits have found a home here, but old and rare breeds of domestic animals can also be seen, including Mangaltiza Pigs and Zackel Sheep. And how can Fontana Castle be reached? Only by foot, from the car park in Tirolo village (Dorf Tirol) it's about a 10-minute walk. Also from the Tirolo Wine Trail and from the Tirolo Apple Trail you can reach the castle.