Castel Belfort is located between the villages of Cavedago and Spormaggiore, its beautiful high crenellated tower rising above the remains of the building. This manor, dating back to the 14th century, was at the centre of an intricate story of “political favours” and countless owners. One of the legends surrounding the grand ruined fortress tells that the ghost of one of its proprietors (Count Cristoforo Reifer of Altspaur) still wanders among its ruins. Today, Castel Belfort can be visited, perhaps by following one of the trails that lead to it.
The first official records concerning Castel Belfort date back to 1311, when Henry, Count of Tyrol, granted Tissone of Altenspaur permission to build a watchtower along the Via Nuova, the route meant to connect Andalo with the Sporeggio Valley and the Sarca Valley with Trento. Next to the tower, built on the “hill or knoll of Malgolo” (as the documents of the time describe the location), the castle of Belfort was later erected. It would then pass continuously from one family to another, including the Reifer family of Castel Campo.
In 1670 it was struck by a devastating fire, and in 1700, after passing definitively to the Saracini Counts, it was rebuilt on the earlier remains.
The most captivating—and in a way unsettling—story linked to Castel Belfort is that of Cristoforo Reifer, who ruled these lands around the mid‑15th century. It is said that the Count suffered from fits of madness and paranoid delusions that drove him to suspect, in an almost obsessive manner, the loyalty of his third wife Orsola, to the point of nearly killing her. It would be the tormented spirit of Sir Cristoforo, still thirsty for revenge, that haunts the ruins of the castle in search of proof of the young woman’s betrayal.
For further information
Belfort Castle
Strada Statale, 421 | 38010 Spormaggiore
Tel. APT Dolomiti Paganella (+39) 0461 585836
