The remains of the castle stand on a dominant point on a hill to the south-east above the old town centre.  The castle was owned by the Vovbre and later Žovnek yeomen, the later Celje Counts (after 1333) and the dukes. After the murder of the last of the line of Celje Counts in 1456, it came into the country's princely property. In the 17th century it was slowly decaying and at the end of that period it was without a roof for the first time. In 1755 the castle was purchased by Count Gaisruck, who started using it as a quarry. His work was continued in the 19th century by a farm owner. After 1846 the walls were protected and the restoration of ruins slowly began.  The maintenance and repair of the walls of Celje Castle is the oldest continuous action of renovation in Slovenia.

The Castle complex is comprised of the east palace yard with the high square-profile Frederick's Tower on a rising and the west palace yard with farming and military facilities plus a well. The central residential areas were additionally protected with an inner moat. The oldest part of the town was developed from a residential tower with a walled yard from the first half of the 13th century, when it was built by Vovbržani (mentioned for the first time in 1241). From the 13th until the 16th century, the castle buildings spread across the castle hill and so originated one of the most extensive medieval castles in Slovenia.

The castle had triple defence walls and wide defence moats. It was rebuilt, additionally reinforced and repaired at the end of the 16th century. With its renovations and adaptations it was given a summer theatre and viewing terraces. The interior does not exactly reflect its original purpose. The Celje Castle complex is the most important and the largest medieval castle project on our territory, a type of an extended Gothic castle with a Romanesque nucleus and a Renaissance style fortified perimeter.

 

Location: Štajerska -> Celje