Gewerkenegg Castle ( sl, Grad Gewerkenegg) is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in downtown

Idrija Idrija (, in older sources ''Zgornja Idrija''; german: (Ober)idria, it, Idria) is a town in western Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Idrija. It is located in the traditional region of Inner Carniola and is in the Gorizia Statisti ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. Originally built to support the

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

, it now facilitates the town's

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

History

With the discovery of mercury in Idrija at the end of the 15th century, mining-related activities soon began to predominantly shape the town and its surrounding areas. Gewerkenegg Castle was constructed between 1522 and 1533 by the mine owners in order to support the mining activities. Its name was derived from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

to describe a 'mining castle'. Unlike most other castles from the same era, Gewerkenegg Castle never served

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

purposes, nor was used as a residence for

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

. Its primary role was to be a

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

for storing the mined mercury and to provide

office An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...

space for the mine administration. It served as a warehouse until a dedicated storage facility was built in the town at the end of the 18th century. Presently it is one of the oldest buildings in Idrija and it facilitates the municipal museum. The museum was opened in 1953 and spreads over almost 2,000 m² of the castle interior.Description on the official webpage: https://www.muzej-idrija-cerkno.si/en/obiscite-nas/top-10-zanimivosti/?zanimivost=6054

Location and structure

The castle is located on a small hill in the western side of the town. Its structure is roughly of a rectangular shape, with three defensive towers positioned in the north-west, north-east and south-east corners. The south side borders on a steep

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

adjacent to Nikova

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

, therefore the south-east corner has no tower and is simply an enlarged section of joining walls. The corners are connected by walls that also contain the main rooms. A

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

is located in the middle of the east wall. A small

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

stream of Nikova borders the north side of the castle. The castle has two entrances: the one on the east side is accessed by stairs and a bridge over the tributary stream, and the one on the west side is accessed from the road and leads directly into the

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

References

Soruces

External links

* {{Authority control Castles in Slovenia Museums in Slovenia