Castel Colz is a Renaissance manor with great charm and artistic value. Its history is inseparably linked to the Alta Badia and is called confidentially by the locals "la Gran Ciasa".
Castel Colz History
Castel Colz is a Renaissance castle located in the center of the small village of La Villa, in the Bolzano municipality of Badia. The first traces of the building date back to 1536, when Hans von Rubatsch had permission from Emperor Ferdinand I to build a noble residence. The construction, in Gothic style, carried out on a dolomite rock spur, ended within a year or so. The castle consists of four towers, two of which are round and two other rectangular. Later the building was modified by the Colz, whose name it still retains, and then by the Winklers and then again by the Mayerhofers.
The name of Castel Colz is also linked to that of Francesco Guglielmo Brack (in Ladin "Gran Bracùn"), a knight really existed, even if his deeds are often linked to mere legends of cruelty in Val Badia.
Castel Colz was left in ruins around 1850, but in 1988 it was restored to be used as a luxury grand hotel. In 2010, the structure closed the business to return to being a private residence.