I remember the first time I saw a picture of Lake Bled in Slovenia and I remember thinking how beautiful it was – a castle almost growing into the steep hill it sits on the sky-blue Lake Bled. It was both beautiful and mysterious. A few months ago, I was finally able to visit Bled Castle, the oldest castle in Slovenia, while I was on my trip to the Balkans. I even got to see it illuminated in amber red glowing lights from my hotel window. It was spectacular to say the least.
Castle Bled is for sure a quintessential medieval fortress with towers, ramparts, moats, and a terrace overlooking the surrounding area for potential invaders. Local people chose to build on this location because it was up high on a cliff, ideal for defense purposes. The history of ownership is complex with so many owners over the centuries it is hard to keep track, but the first documented owner was German King Henry II in 1004 (the Slovenian government is the owner now). The castle dates back to the 11th century but has had modifications and additions through the centuries so most of what we see now dates back to the 16th century -- the castle walls are Romanesque and most the buildings are of Renaissance architecture.
The buildings of the castle are arranged around two courtyards that are linked with a staircase. Originally, the upper courtyard was the residential building and the lower was for the “working functions” of the castle.
My favorite part of the castle was visiting the Graiska Tiskarna (castle printing workshop). An actual master printer was inside to demonstrate the same process of printing used back in the 14th century (remember Gutenberg’s Bible?). A reconstructed Gutenberg wooden printing press is used by the master printer with hand-made paper, historical blocks, and lead letters stored in an upper case and lower case (these are actual “cases” and yes, that’s how the terms of upper and lower case originated!) Remember the phrase, “mind your p’s and q’s”? – also originated from this printing process as it would be easy to flip the letters upside down. Well, for a couple of Euros, I was able to choose my “p’s and q’s” and use my own strength to pull the lever and create my own page to take home as a souvenir. Not only was it fun, but I walked away with a great memento of the visit!
The small 16th century Gothic chapel is on the upper courtyard and is painted with beautiful frescos inside to see. The alter is adorned with the first owner of the castle, King Henry II and his wife.
You can also take a visit into the forge. Various forged artifacts can be seen here but now they function as art pieces. Of course, back in the day the forge was used to make weapons, a very important part to the defense of the castle. Bled was rich with ore deposits which was essential to produce iron. The comical blacksmith inside giving demos kept us entertained with amusing stories as well. So not only was it very informative but entertaining as well.
Next to the forge is a museum that houses a very nice collection tracing the lake’s history from the time of the first settlements until present day. Particularly interesting were the pieces of armor, weapons and jewelry found in nearby ancient Slav burial pits. Sadly, there are no original castle furnishings because the fortress had so many owners throughout the centuries and the remainder of items were looted during WWII. Still, this museum is a 3D textbook of what life would have been like in this region over the centuries.
Now, I’m not sure if honey was ever actually produced at the castle but there is a lovely Bee house and honey shop here, too. Slovenia is homeland for the Carniolan honey bee and they are proud of that fact, especially since they were the first European country to ban pesticides. You can purchase every sort of honey product imaginable here, including over 20 different types of honey – honey beverages (yes, honey wine), sweets, supplements, cosmetics, candles, oils, etc. I swear the honey here does taste different. It’s absolutely delicious!
Not to forget, you also have the wonderful opportunity to catch the amazing views of the city below throughout the tour.
After all your exploring, there’s a restaurant on the premises with a great view and wonderful modern Slovenian food. We didn’t eat here but best tip: book in advance to score a table with a view. With a reservation at the restaurant, you also get free entrance into the castle. This might be a nice thing to do as a visit and tour of the castle only takes a few hours.
As always, I recommend wearing comfortable walking shoes because there is a bit of a hike up the hill to the castle but obviously worth it.
This venue is available for weddings for around $2,000 Euros – which by today’s standards didn’t seem that much to me. For additional $49 Euros, they would print your wedding certificate in the Castle Print Works – how cool is that?!?
We stayed in Lake Bled for a few days which I will tell you more about that next week but in the meantime, this was the view I had of Lake Bled from our hotel – not too bad, don’t you think?
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