Castles!- Large Photos

[DonaCatalina]

The Medieval Castle in Edole, Latvia was built for Piltene Bishop in 1264-1267. Courtyard and round tower were built in the 16th century.
Map coordinates 57.018356, 21.694999
Today the castle houses a museum.

[Lady Rebecca]

That's so interesting. It kind of reminds me of a mixture of a French castle and the Spanish missions in CA.

[DonaCatalina]

Toron, now Tibnin or Tebnine in southern Lebanon, was a major Crusader castle, built in the Lebanon mountains.
Map coordinates 33.195714, 35.412325
The castle was built by Hugh of Falkenberg, second prince of Galilee, in 1105 to help capture Tyre. After Hugh's death it was made an independent seigneury of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, given to Humphrey I before 1109.

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This facility was under the control of the Teutonic Order in 1220.

[DonaCatalina]

Saint Catalina's Castle (Castillo de Santa Catalina) sits on the top of a hill overlooking the city of Jaen, Spain.
Map coordinates 37.767612, -3.799654
Previously there existed a fortress of Arabic origin (Abrehui's castle), of which some remains still exist. The current construction is of Christian origin, raised after the conquest of the city by Ferdinand III of Castile, called the Saint, in 1246.

[DonaCatalina]

Medininkai Castle, a medieval castle in Vilnius district, Lithuania, was built in the late 13th century or the first quarter of the 14th century.
Map coordinates 54.538889, 25.65
Medininkai was first mentioned in documents in 1392.

[DonaCatalina]

The Skopje Fortress, commonly referred to as Kale Fortress, or simply Kale (from kale, the Turkish word for 'fortress'), is a historic fortress located in Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia.
Map coordinates  42, 21.4344
The first fortress, according to research and available data, is believed to have been built amidst the 6th century. The fortress is thought to have been reconstructed during the rule of emperor Justinian I and constructed further during the 10th and 11th centuries.

[DonaCatalina]

Castle Heemskerk was built in the thirteenth century to protect the County of Holland against the West Frisians.
Map coordinates 52.504973, 4.685273
In 1610 the Castle Heemskerk was renamed to Castle Marquette and was at first the residence for many nobles and later inhabited by patricians. It was during this time that the outer moat was transformed into an elaborate system of lake and gardens. The inner moat still surrounds the castle. The last noble family that lived there were the House of Gevers.

[DonaCatalina]

Lahore Castle, locally referred to as Shahi Qila is citadel of the city of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
Map coordinates 31.590278, 74.309722
Origins of the fortifications go as far back as antiquity, however, the existing base structure was built during the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar (1556-1605).

[DonaCatalina]

Château de Montmorency is situated in Montigny-en-Ostrevent, in the region of Nord, in France.
Map coordinates 50.367778, 3.185556
This is a Feudal castle which has a beautiful gateway from the thirteenth century, a piece of the moat, towers, curtain wall and a beautiful inner courtyard.


Inside the courtyard

[DonaCatalina]

Zlocieniec Castle (German: Falkenburg) is a ruined medieval castle in a town of the same name in Middle Pomerania, in north-western Poland.
Map coordinates  53.535718, 16.007759
In 1303, the West Pomeranian Duchy lost many territories, which were subjugated to Ludolf Wedel. The Zlocieniec castle was erected in that period, nowadays we can still see its ruins. The town, then called Falkenburg, was first mentioned in 1311 in a document where the German margraves and the Poznan bishop had established the tithes for Poznan. The facade of the castle was last altered in the late 16th century, early 17th century.

[DonaCatalina]

Castelo de Soure is a Portuguese castle in Soure, Coimbra. It has been listed as a National monument since 1949.
Map coordinates 40.057, -8.626
It is not clear when the Castelo de Soure was first occupied or its beginning as a military structure. It is not mentioned in documents until it was part of the Christian zone in the 11th century. However the construction ans style of the towers point to the 9th or early 10th centuries.

[DonaCatalina]

Korela Fortress, at the town of Priozersk, was founded by the Karelians who named the place Käkisalmi.
Map coordinates 61.029949, 30.122289
It was first mentioned in a Novgorodian chronicle of 1143 as Korela. Indeed, archeological digs have revealed a layer belonging to the 12th century.

[Rapier Half-Wit]

Imagine how much "baggage" a castle could hold. It boggles the mind.

[DonaCatalina]

The Vrsac Tower is a tower near Vrsac, Serbia.
map coordinates 45.123056, 21.324444
The tower is a remnant of the medieval Vrsac fortress. There are two theories about the origin of this fortress. According to the Turkish traveler, Evliya Celebi, the fortress was built by the Serbian despot Dura? Brankovi?. Historians consider that Brankovi? built the fortress after the fall of Smederevo in 1439.