The castles of Istria

Castles are the most recognisable architectural traces from the Middle Ages in Istria (Lat. castrum, a fortified Roman military settlement with watchtowers and bulwarks). Medieval feudalism was characterised by a great number of landowners: rulers of fiefs who built defensive strongholds – castles – to enjoy the noble life and govern their properties. But these castles were not impregnable: every single castle was attacked, many of them seized, incinerated, ravaged, then rebuilt and very often destroyed again. Whenever the dominant authority changed, the ruler of the castle changed too, but there were also brave landowners that obstinately defied their superiors. //////// Istrski srednji vek je v arhitekturi zaznamovan s kašteli (lat. castrum, vojaško naselje rimske vojske, utrjeno s stolpi in obzidjem). Fevdalizem srednjega veka karakterizira množica zemljiških posestnikov, lastnikov fevdov, ki so gradili obrambne utrdbe – kaštele, da bi v njih uživali in iz njih nadzirali svoje posesti. Kašteli niso bili neosvojljivi: ni takega, ki ni bil napaden, mnogi so bili osvojeni, požgani, zrušeni, ponovno postavljeni in zopet razdejani. Njihovi vladarji so se menjali skladno z odnosi velikih sil, a so obstajali tudi pogumni, ki so trmasto kljubovali nadrejenim.