Kalec Castle ( sl, Grad Kalec, originally ''Kalc'' or ''Kauc''; german: Steinberg or ''Stemberg'') is a partially ruined castle in Bač in

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 ...

. The castle, of which only a single tower and some sections of wall survive intact, stands on a slope known as ''Breg'', near the source of the

Pivka River The Pivka is a karst lost river in Slovenia. The river is in length. The Pivka ends in Planina Cave, where it merges with the Rak River and then the Unica River. The confluence of the Pivka and the Rak is one of the largest subterranean conflue ...

, at an elevation of 618 m. Illustrated in

Valvasor Johann Weikhard Freiherr von Valvasor or Johann Weichard Freiherr von Valvasor ( sl, Janez Vajkard Valvasor, ) or simply Valvasor (baptised on 28 May 1641 – September or October 1693) was a natural historian and polymath from Carniola, p ...

's 1689 '' Glory of the Duchy of Carniola'', it was built in the mid-17th century by the noble house of

Steinberg Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH (trading as Steinberg) is a German musical software and hardware company based in Hamburg. It develops music writing, recording, arranging, and editing software, most notably Cubase, Nuendo, and Dorico. It also ...

. Its later owners included the Auersperg family and the Slovene composer

Miroslav Vilhar Miroslav may refer to: * Miroslav (given name), a Slavic masculine given name * ''Young America'' (clipper) or ''Miroslav'', an Austrian clipper ship in the Transatlantic case oil trade * Miroslav (Znojmo District), a town in the Czech Republic S ...

, who also died in it. The castle was abandoned by its last residents after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and began falling apart. In 1941 it hosted a meeting of the antifascist militant group

TIGR TIGR, an abbreviation for ''Trst'', ''Istra'', ''Gorica'', and ''Reka'', full name Revolutionary Organization of the Julian March T.I.G.R. ( sl, Revolucionarna organizacija Julijske krajine T.I.G.R.), was a militant anti-fascist and insurgent or ...

. Today the

Krpan Hiking Trail Krpan is a Croatian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Vladimir Krpan (born 1938), Croatian classical pianist * Petar Krpan (born 1974), Croatian footballer Fictional characters: *Martin Krpan Martin Krpan is a fictional charac ...

passes beside the ruins, which are surrounded by a copse of old linden trees. The path to the castle is bordered by a row of

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

trees.

References

Castles in Inner Carniola Ruined castles in Slovenia {{Slovenia-castle-stub