Wachau - Aggstein Ruins

A little way downstream will be seen the ruins of Burg Aggstein, some 300m/1,000ft above the river on a steep-sided crag with a magnificent view of the valley. The castle, founded in 1231 and several times destroyed and rebuilt, is of imposing bulk; it preserves parts of its towers, kitchen and dining hall, the chapel and its mighty walls. On this rock lived the robber barons known as the Kuenringer, who attacked and plundered merchant ships and wagons as they passed through the valley.