Ravne Manor

The over 500-year old castle was reconstructed several times. Today, it accommodates the central library of Koroška.

Ravne na Koroškem Castle, which lies on the terrace above the Ravne na Koroškem town centre, was built by the Hebenstreits, the patriarchal feudalists who moved to Koroška (Carinthia) around 1530, and was probably an outbuilding standing in the same location before the castle was built in the 1530s. The castle was named Streiteben by its first owners and has lacked architectural uniformity since the late Gothic due to its numerous reconstructions. The castle was given its current Neo-Baroque appearance by the Counts of Thurn, who reconstructed the building and laid out the castle park after 1863.

In 2002, when renovating the Dr. Franc Sušnik Koroška Central Library located in Ravne na Koroškem Castle (where the Ravne na Koroškem General Upper-Secondary School was also located at the time), archaeological excavations revealed architectural remains of a stone building's cellar with a preserved staircase. Among the finds were some interesting fragments of ceramic vessels, numerous bones of birds and smaller animals, individual iron objects, ceramic glazed tiles, as well as an interesting ceramic trough. 

A permanent exhibition of a lapidarium of Roman stone monuments from the Zagrad excavation site near Prevalje, as well as individual stones from the Municipality of Ravne na Koroškem are on display in the chapel of Ravne na Koroškem Castle. Paintings are on display in the castle, products of art colonies taking place in the gallery of the Art Salon since 1969, as well as a rich collection of small plastic arts.

Numerous cultural and other events take place on the castle premises of the Dr. Franc Sušnik Koroška Central Library, as well as at the castle park. Taking a stroll under its treetops reveals stories of the past – from the times when counts were walking here to the times of secondary-school students falling in love and hiding among the very same trees.