Lož Castle
Coordinates: 45°43′28″N 14°28′19″E / 45.72444°N 14.47194°E
Lož Castle (Slovene: Grad Lož, German: Schloss Laas), also known as Pusti Grad ("Waste Castle"), is a castle ruin above the settlement of Lož in central Slovenia's Lož Valley. The castle and its lordship are mentioned in period documents under various names, including Los, Louse, Lose, and Lösch.
Built in the mid-12th century by the Patriarchate of Aquileia, it was first held in fief by the Counts of Vovbrk. Its next inhabitants were the Vovbrk's relatives, the Counts Sternberg from Strmec na Koroškem. In 1244, the Patriarchate succeeded in regaining Lož and all its lands after the Vovbrk's were wiped out in a financial crisis. In 1269 a "gastald" or administrator was first mentioned; his functions would have been economic-administrative, supervisory and judicial, being in particular responsible for the proper collection of duties and taxes. Soon after 1296 the estate became the seat of governors.
Between 1306 and 1308, Lož was unlawfully occupied by count Henry of Gorizia. Afterward, the Patriarchate gave the fief to Carniolan provincial governor Count Meinhard of Ortenburg. In 1342, the Patriarchate gave the castle with all attendant rights and its provincial judiciary in fief to Herman and George Werdenstain, who the same year sold it all to the house of Ortenburg. After the assassination of the Patriarch Bertram of St. Genesius in 1350, the lordship passed to the Habsburgs until 1366.
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