St Veit an der Glan - Burg Hochosterwitz

To the east of St Veit, on a crag rising some 160m/525ft above the valley, sprawls the imposing Burg Hochosterwitz (681m/2,234ft; restaurant). After a turbulent history the castle - first recorded in 860 - was captured by the Khevenhüllers. Georg Freiherr von Khevenhüller (1534-87) finally purchased it. Faced with the threat of Turkish attacks (1570-86) he enlarged it, provided it with an arsenal and ordered 14 gates to be built. Never captured by a foe, the castle has remained the property of the Khevenhüller family to this day. The steep access road to the castle, the Burgweg (620m/680yds long), partly hewn from the rock, winds its way up through the aforementioned fourteen defensive gates, each of which is named (on the Khevenhüller