Castles!- Large Photos

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Carrigaholt Castle was built in about 1480 by the McMahons, chiefs of the Corcabascin Peninsula. It stands at the end of a fishing pier overlooking the Shannon Estuary and the harbour.
map coordinates 52.6, -9.7
The castle was occupied by Teige Caech "the short sighted" MacMahon in September 1588 when seven ships of the Spanish Armada anchored at Carrigaholt. Although aid was refused by the MacMahons, the castle was nonetheless unsuccessfully besieged shortly afterwards by Sir Conyers Clifford. The following year the renegade fourth Earl of Thomond (Donogh O'Brien) captured it after a four-day siege and, in breach of the surrender terms, hanged all the defenders.

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The Citadel of Al-Quseir (sometimes romanized as Al Qusayr, El Qusair, Quseir, Quesir, Qusseir, Qosseir, or Kosseir), is in an approximately 5000 year old Egyptian city lying along the Red Sea. Its ancient name was Leucus Limen.
Map coordinates 26.103889, 34.281111
The Ottoman stronghold was built in 1517 by the Sultan Selim the Grim.

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Doonagore Castle is a round 16th-century tower house with a small walled enclosure located about 1Km above the coastal village of Doolin in County Clare, Ireland.
map coordinates 53.00327, -9.38713
While a castle was built on the site by Tadgh MacTurlough MacCon O'Connor from stone drawn from the quarry of Trá Leachain some time during the 1300s, the current structure is likely to date to the 16th century.

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Castello di Conversano is located on the highest point of the hill on which the city of Conversano stands in a position able to dominate the whole surrounding territory to the sea.
Map coordinates 40.968681, 17.115994
The castle was the residence of the Counts of Conversano for almost seven centuries, ever since Norman times. Yet his story is much older, probably already at the time of Gothic War (535–554) on the same place there was a defense building, which embraced a part of the megalithic walls of the ancient city of Norba.

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Qasr Kharana, sometimes Qasr al Harrana, Qasr al Kharanah, Kharaneh or Hraneh, is one of the best-known of the desert castles located in present-day eastern Jordan.
Map coordinates 31.728889, 36.462778
It is believed to have been built sometime before the early 8th century, based on a graffito in one of its upper rooms, despite visible Sassanid influences.

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Rezekne Castle ruins are located in the centre of Rezekne, Latvia.
Map coordinates 56.502501, 27.335003
In 1285 the Livonian Order built a two storey stone castle with towers in place of an older wooden structure. Until the sixteenth century, the castle was centre of the local landlord of the Livonian order.

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The Mseilha Fort, also known as "Puy du Connétable", is a medieval stronghold situated north of the city of Batroun in Lebanon.
map coordinates 34.273804, 35.690072
The Crusaders built the first fortifications during the Middle Ages.

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Well, it's a marshmallow world here today, so I immediately thought of German castles in the snow.
Burg Heid is located at about 330 m above sea level near the former railway station of the local church Lampaden in Trier-Saarburg in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Map coordinates 46.641500, 6.729492
Built in the 14th  Century, later Manor Heid was in the 18th Century in the possession of the cathedral chapter of Trier.

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Raudon? Castle is in Raudon?, Lithuania.
map coordinates 55.096667, 23.130556
Castle construction works started in late 16th century, when the castle belonged to King Sigismund II August.
Some of the construction is attributed to Kirspin Kirschenstein who likely owned the property in 1580.

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Happy Valentine's Day to you all.
Mamer castle was originally built in Mamer, Luxembourg in the 10th century.
map coordinates 49.626111, 6.023889
Police chief Frederic François built a new castle using the ruins of the old one in 1830, surrounded by a 2-metre high wall.

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The Strumica Fortress also known as the Czar's Towers is a fortress located at the top of a steep hill overlooking Strumica, Macedonia from the south.
Map coordinates 41.434694, 22.631940
South of the gate, there used to be a necropolis that had been used from the 1st century BC, which is the time the fortress originates from, – to the Ottoman period.

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Slot Zuylen is a Dutch castle at the village of Oud-Zuilen just north of the city of Utrecht.
map coordinates 52.127, 5.073
The castle was originally built in the 13th century by lord van Suilen en Anholt as a simple Donjon. In 1420 during the Hook and Cod wars the castle was completely demolised. In 1525 rebuilding started, retaining the original double moat system.

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Marselisborg Castle was known as Havreballegard when it was built in the 1500's in Denmark. In 1661 King Frederik III of Denmark, who was deeply in debt, had to surrender to one of his creditors, the Dutch merchant Gabriel Marselis, sizeable amounts of Crownlands in Jutland, including the Havreballegard manor.
map coordinates 56.127822, 10.202778
Later, Constantin Marselis managed to raise the status of Havreballegard to the barony of Marselisborg. But the castle changed hands and was remodeled several times before it was once again a possesion of the royal family.

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Qila Rohtas is a castle built in what is now Pakistan by the great Afghan king Sher Shah Suri.
Map coordinates 32.96326, 73.577897
Sher Shah Suri named Qila Rohtas after the famous Rohtasgarh Fort in Shahabad district near Baharkunda, Bihar which he captured from the Raja of Rohtas Hari Krishan Rai in 1539. Built solely to house the king's army, the castle is nertheless massive.

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Wawel Castle in Cracow in Poland was built at the behest of Casimir III the Great and consists of a number of structures situated around the central courtyard. In the 14th century it was rebuilt by Jogaila and Jadwiga of Poland.
map coordinates 50.05444, 19.93658
The Crown Treasury situated in the historic Gothic rooms which were used from the 15th century on for storing the Polish coronation insignia and Crown Jewels, feature on display objects from the former Treasury that survived plunder, among them the memorabilia of Polish monarchs including members of their families and eminent personages, as well as the coronation sword Szczerbiec.