High on a precipitous crag just outside Bolzano, the 13th-century Roncolo castle, also known by its German name of Runkelstein, contains an astonishing treasury of 14th- and 15th-century frescoes. Unlike most that survive from that era, the Roncolo frescoes depict not religious subjects, but scenes of everyday court life. Men hunt and take part in chivalric competitions, and ladies watch from galleries, providing a glimpse into life in a medieval castle and the dress of the times. Other frescoes make literary references to stories of King Arthur or Tristan and Isolde. They are in remarkably good condition and constitute the largest and best preserved collection of medieval non-religious frescoes surviving today. Getting to the castle is easy via the free buses from Piazza Walther.
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