Blejski grad – Bled castle

Bled castle is, according to written sources, the oldest castle in Slovenia, first mentioned in a 1011. It is perching atop a steep cliff rising 130 meters above the glacial Lake Bled. Castle terraces offer spectacular views of the lake, island, and over to the mountain ranges of the Karawanks and the Julian Alps.

The buildings are arranged around two courtyards which are connected with a staircase. In the past the outbuildings were arranged at the lower courtyard and the residential buildings around the upper courtyard. At the upper courtyard there is also a chapel dating back to the 16th century. The castle walls are Romanesque, and other castle buildings are Renaissance in origin.

The museum located in the baroque rooms of the castle takes visitors on a journey celebrating the eventful history of Bled from the time when the first settlements in the area appeared to the present day. The furnishing of the museum interprets settlement culture over different eras.

The castle printing works houses a reconstructed Gutenberg’s wooden printing press which the master printer uses to demonstrate printing on hand-made paper with historical blocks and lead letters.

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Blejski grad je po pisnih virih najstarejši grad na Slovenskem, prvič omenjen leta 1011. Stoji na strmi steni, ki se dviga 130 metrov nad ledeniškim Blejskim jezerom. Z grajske terase je spektakularen pogled na jezero, otok in na gorsko verigo Karavank in Julijskih Alp.

Stavbe so razporejene okoli dveh dvorišč, ki sta povezana s stopniščem. V preteklosti so bile gospodarske stavbe urejene na spodnjem dvorišču in stanovanjske stavbe okoli zgornjega dvorišča. Na zgornjem dvorišču je tudi kapela iz 16. stoletja. Grajske stene so romanske, druge grajske stavbe pa so renesančnega izvora.

Muzej, ki se nahaja v baročnih sobah gradu, obiskovalce popelje skozi zgodovino Bleda od časa, ko so se na tem območju pojavila prva naselja pa vse do današnjih dni. Oprema muzeja ponazarja naselitveno kulturo v različnih obdobjih.

V grajski tiskarni je rekonstruirana Gutenbergova lesena tiskarna, ki jo glavni tiskar uporablja za prikaz tiskanja na ročno izdelan papir z zgodovinskimi bloki in svinčenimi črkami.