Old-Ras Castle

Very little is known about this castle, located on the northern slope of the Karawanken mountains at an altitude of almost 1000 m. It was probably the first ancestral castle of the Lords of Ras. The Rasers, who are mentioned in sources from the mid-12th century onwards, were possibly ministeriales of the Otakars, but are also depicted as a high-ranking noble family who could freely dispose of their property.

In the 12th century, the Rasers built their second castle on a hilltop in the upper Rosental valley above Schlatten. This is first mentioned in a document of the Patriarchate of Aquileia in 1171. Whether the old castle was abandoned then or at a later date is not known. Today, only sparse remains of the former castle walls survive.