Slovenia: Predjama Gradz (August 2016)

Predjama Castle is a Renaissance castle built within a cave mouth; it is located near Postojna Cave, another popular Slovenian tourist attraction (which we opted not to visit). The original Predjama Castle was built around 1274 in the Gothic style, perched high under a natural rocky arch in a stone wall in order to make it difficult for foes to access. It would have remained standing even during the Habsburg conflict, but Erazem Lueger (lord of the castle) was betrayed by one of his own men and killed by a cannon shot. During the seige, Erazem was able to secretly supply the castle with food because of a mechanically enlarged natural vertical shaft that led out of the original castle to an exit 82 feet high at the top of a cliff. A second castle was destroyed in an earthquake. The third (and current) castle still stands today. In 1846, the castle was sold to the Windischgratz family, who remained its owners until the end of World War II, when it became a museum. Seeing the family name "Windischgratz" led me to question our guide Goran, for my maternal grandfather's family ethnicity was "Windish" (which we always viewed as a nationality without a country). After speaking with Goran, it seems plausible that my ancestors originated from somewhere in Slovenia.