Frozen for all eternity like a stone beneath the elderly Duino castle on the cliffs. It is said to be haunted by the White Lady, a former lady of the castle who was thrown off the cliffs by her jealous husband. Now he returns to the castle to care for the child he left behind.
High above the Gulf of Trieste, on a rugged cliff, rise the ruins of the elderly Castle of Duino, a fortress of old stones and whispered sorrows. According to records, it was once a place of druid worship dedicated to the Sun God. The oldest written document about the Duino fortress dates back to 1139, built on the ruins of a Roman outpost from the period when Tibein de Devino, i.e. Tibeiner, who was a vassal of the patriarchs of Aquileia, ruled.
The ruins of the castle that we can see today come from the castle from 1389, when the Wallsee family ordered the construction of a robust fortress. Over time, the Wallsee family disappeared, and the castle, after being used as a prison, became the residence of the Luogars and Hofers.
The stories of the elderly Duino castle and the surrounding area were immortalized by the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke in his Duino Elegies. Although its walls have withstood centuries of storms, wars and noble intrigues, one story remains more vividly remembered than any other recorded in history books – the legend of the White Lady, a spirit trapped between sadness and stone.
A jealous knight and a closed tower
According to local tradition, centuries ago, a powerful and cruel knight lived in the castle with his pretty teenage wife and their son. Some sources give her name Esterina da Portole. This version was given to Rainer Maria Rilke, who was a recurrent guest of Duino Castle, by his dear friend, Princess Marie of Thurn und Taxis.
The knight was notable for his anger, greed and unbearable jealousy. He was always fighting against his enemies who plundered the village and his property.
His wife's beauty was so striking that he did not allow anyone to see her and was afraid that some other nobleman would take her away. There were rumors that while he was gone, they would try to get her to run away with them. But every time a suitor came along, she rejected him, remaining committed to her husband and loving her captor regardless. Whenever he went on military campaigns or diplomatic missions, he locked her in a tower on the edge of a cliff, where only his eyes could admire her.
Although imprisoned, the woman endured her fate with serene dignity. A model of patience and compassion, she spent her days caring for her child, singing lullabies through the elevated windows of her stone prison and staring longingly at the sea below.
The Fatal Return and Divine Intervention
One memorable day, the knight returned from a long and exhausting campaign. Tired, paranoid, and possessed by a wild suspicion that his wife had been inconstant – despite her unwavering loyalty – he flew into a fit of unbridled rage. In his madness, he dragged her to the edge of the cliff and threw her off the tower. In some versions, he was the one who planned it all, lured her towards the cliffs and pushed her off.
But the sea never took her.
According to legend, God took pity on the faithful woman and before her body shattered on the rocks below, she was transformed into a white stone – frozen in mid-autumn, her soul spared but not released. Her grief was so great and her mother's longing so powerful that even as her body turned to rock, her spirit remained trapped, doomed to search forever for her lost child.
The Wandering Spirit of the North
To this day, the inhabitants of Duino whisper that at midnight, when the wind from the Adriatic Sea stirs the waves under the castle, the White Lady, called La Dama Bianca di Duino, as she is called in Italy, wakes up. Her stone form detaches from the cliff and takes on ghostly life. It is said to appear and disappear three times a night. Dressed in white, she wanders the halls of the elderly Duino castle, her see-through figure searching every room, desperately trying to find her infant's cradle.
Witnesses describe hearing tranquil footsteps in empty rooms, the sounds of a crying mother, and even lullabies flowing through the corridors on moonlit nights. Others tell of a Roman candle that burns every night in the castle hall and passes through the living rooms until the doors open on their own.
The apparition never speaks, but its anguish is palpable. And just before dawn, when the first lithe reaches the cliffs, the Lady in White returns to her ledge, turns to stone again and resumes her eternal vigil.
A stone that still watches
In the stories told to Rilke, there is another version of the formation of the rock. This version describes a teenage princess named Duna, aged 13, who had “green eyes that looked like the sea”. She fell in love with 15-year-old Reina, a boy from a fishing village near the castle of Duino. Her father, King Aquillio, opposed their affair, demanding that Rein sail out to sea during a storm. Forced into obedience, Rein set out but never returned. Devastated, Duna went to the rocks beneath the castle to look for him, hoping he would return. She stayed there for so long, hugging the huge rock, that she eventually turned to stone herself.
Tourists who visit Duino Castle today can still see the Rock of the White Lady or the Rocca della Dama Bianca. It is a striking limestone rock rising from the cliff just below the castle walls. From the sea, the rock's form eerily resembles a robed woman in mid-autumn or mid-range, with her face turned towards the fortress. Sailors and fishermen have long claimed that the figure protects them from storms, while others say that it is better not to look too long, lest the Lady's sadness follow you home.
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The White Lady of Duino Castle: haunting under the cliffs near the castle ruins
Frozen for all eternity like a stone beneath the elderly Duino castle on the cliffs. It is said to be haunted by the White Lady, a former lady of the castle who was thrown off the cliffs by her jealous husband. Now he returns to the castle to care for the child he left behind.
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The Legend of the White Lady, Duino Castle, Trieste, Friuli Venezia Giulia
Image Source: Pixabay.com
