Castle Road
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Between Burgenland, south-eastern Styria and the Slovenian borderland lies one of the densest concentrations of castles in Europe. For more than thirty years the Castle Road has strung them together as a route — today 41 castles, palaces and monasteries, joined by north-eastern Slovenia in 2018 and northern Croatia in 2020.
Why so many here? Because this was a border for centuries. What now looks like gentle vineyard hills was a military zone facing the Ottomans: every ridge got its stronghold, and whoever had the view built on top. That is why Riegersburg sits on an extinct volcano with a sightline into Hungary.
What became of them varies. Some stayed fortresses, others turned into residences, others again into settings for exhibitions and festivals. The route can be driven in one long day — or stretched over weeks, because between the walls lie wine taverns, artisan producers and thermal spas.
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