Legend tells of a White Lady who was thrown from the walls of an ancient castle by her evil husband. But heaven took pity on her and gave her a body of rock before she crashed on the rocks. It is said that her soul is still there, on a cliff overlooking the bay, near the remains of the ancient manor of Duino, and that some nights it comes to life and wanders restlessly.
The building presents itself as a composite and massive construction: towering above it all is the 16th-century tower, which preserves intact its two-thousand-year-old structure; it was around this tower, on the ruins of a Roman outpost, that in 1300 the construction of the present castle was undertaken not far from the ancient one.
Since 1600 under the Counts Thurn Hoffer Valsassina, the Castle gradually took on the connotation of a humanistic pole that it still maintains today. Fifteen perfectly furnished rooms can be visited, full of evidence that tells the long history of the family of the Princes of the Tower and Badger, whose lineage has been linked to European postal services since the 1400s. The tour, which lasts about an hour and a half, provides an opportunity to admire in addition to the precious furnishings numerous historical documents, original letters, family photos and period prints; of particular note is Liszt’s piano. A masterpiece of architecture is Palladio’s staircase.
Truly impressive is the view from the top of the tower that sweeps three hundred and sixty degrees from the Karst to the sea, while very special is the atmosphere in the family chapel. Passing through the park we can appreciate the rich variety of Mediterranean flora: holm oaks, yews, olive trees, cypresses and numerous cascades of colorful flowers that color and perfume the Castle’s avenues. The Castle Bunker has an area of 400 square meters and is 18 m deep.
