Celje Castle, in Slovenia, has first written records from between 1125 and 1137. The Counts of Heunburg from Carinthia built the first fortified building, a Romanesque palace, in the first half of the thirteenth century. The Lords of Sanneck took the castle in 1333, and from 1341 they were the Counts of Celje, who made it their official residence. A curtain wall and northern tower were added before 1300, and the four-story Friderikov stolp around 1400.
The castle covered an area of almost 5,500 square meters, about 59,200 square feet. An earthquake in 1348 destroyed part of the palace, which was rebuilt. The last residents left in 1795, and a farmer used the ruins as a quarry after buying them in 1803.
The Celje museum society began restoration in 1882. About 60,000 people visit each year, for events and concerts.
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