Schloss Porcia

Geschichte

Schloss Porcia is a castle in Spittal an der Drau, in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is one of the most significant Renaissance buildings in Austria.HistoryThe construction of the castle began in 1533 at the behest of Count Gabriel von Salamanca-Ortenburg (1489–1539), treasurer and confidant of the Habsburg archduke Ferdinand I of Austria. Originally from Burgos in Habsburg Spain, Salamanca in 1524 for his services had received the estates of the Counts of Ortenburg in the Duchy of Carinthia. The comital dynasty had become extinct in 1418 and since their ancestral seat Ortenburg Castle did not meet Salamanca's standards, he commissioned the design of his new residence in Spittal to Italian architects who designed the building in a palazzo style. However he never lived here, as the construction works continued until 1598.After the Salamanca dynasty had become extinct in 1620, the local patrician Widmann family acquired the castle and in 1662 assigned it to Prince John Ferdinand of Porcia, at this time minister of the Habsburg emperor Leopold I. His descendants added Baroque elements to the façade in the 18th century, while the adjacent park was laid out in the 19th century.