Castles!- Large Photos

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

Castillo de Loarre is a Romanesque fortress in Huesca province, Aragon, Spain. It commands a magnificent situation in the foothills of the Pyrenees overlooking the vast plains of Sotonera south to Huesca and beyond.
map coordinates 42.325556, -0.611944
The complex was built largely during the 11th and 12th centuries, when its position on the frontier between Christian and Muslim lands gave it strategic importance. The first of the two major building programs began ca. 1020, when Sancho el Mayor (r. 1063-94) reconquered the surrounding lands from the Muslims. At least three towers, two of which survive, the Homage tower (Torre del Homenaje) and the "Tower of the Queen" (Torre de la Reina), as well as a chapel dedicated to Saint Mary of Valverde and connecting walls are attributed to this campaign. The Homage tower was built in an isolated position in front of the fortifications, to which it was connected by a wooden bridge. It contained a basement and five floors. The Torre de la Reina, comprising a basement and three floors, is particularly noteworthy for three sets of twin-arched windows, with columns of exaggerated entasis and trapezoidal capitals that have been related to both Lombard and Mozarabic architectural forms. The chapel is composed of a single-cell nave with an eastern apse covered by a semicircular vault. The original timber roof of the nave was replaced by a vault at the end of the 11th century.

Later in the castle's history the military orders were in possession including at various times the Hospitillars, Templars and the Spanish Order of Calatrava. 

[DonaCatalina]

Castel Roncolo (also referred to as Schloss Runkelstein) is located on a rocky spur in the territory of Ritten, near the city of Bolzano in the province of Bolzano, Italy. In 1237 lderich Prince-Bishop of Trent gave the brothers Friedrich and Beral Lords of Wangen permission to construct a castle on the on the rock then called Runchenstayn.
In 1274 it was damaged during a siege by Meinhard II of Tirol, who after wining the war against Heinrich Prince-Bishop of Trent, entrusted the castle to Gottschalk Knoger of Bolzano. In 1385 the Niklaus and Franz Vintler wealthy merchant brothers from Bolzano bought the castle. Niklaus was counselor and financier of the Count of Tyrol, Leopold III, Duke of Austria, which allowed them to buy the castle a type of residence unfitting in this time for people of their rank. The brothers Vintler commissioned a vast restructuring of the castle: a new defence wall, moat, a cistern and more rooms were built. In 1390 the construction of the Summer House began. The house was painted with frescos, for which the castle is most famous today, inside and outside.

[DonaCatalina]

Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin (Nizhny Novgorod Castle), colloquially shortened as Nizhny, is in Russia, Volga Federal District. After the destruction of the Mordvin Inäzor Obram administrative centre and hillfort named Obran Osh (Ashli) at the site of future stone Kremlin in 1220, a small Russian wooden hillfort was founded by Grand Duke Yuri II of Russia in 1221. Located at the confluence of two most important rivers of his principality, the Volga (Mordvin "Rav" or "Rava"), and the Oka, and Obran Osh was renamed Nizhny Novgorod. Its name literally means Lower Newtown, to distinguish it from the older Novgorod. The enormous red-brick kremlin, one of the strongest and earliest preserved citadels in Russia, was built in 1508–1511 under the supervision of Peter the Italian. The fortress was strong enough to withstand Tatar sieges in 1520 and 1536.

[Peddlin]

Looks very Russian!

[DonaCatalina]

Windsor Castle, in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, is the largest inhabited castle in the world and, dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, is the oldest in continuous occupation. King Edward III was born in the castle on 13 November 1312, and was often referred to as "Edward of Windsor". Beginning in 1350, he initiated a 24-year rebuilding program by demolishing the existing castle, with the exception of the Curfew Tower ("T") and some other minor outworks. He placed William of Wykeham in overall charge of the rebuilding and design of the new castle.

[DonaCatalina]

Baranów Sandomierski Castle was built in Renaissance style in 1591-1606 in Baranów Sandomierski, south-east Poland.
Map coordinates 50.498611, 21.535556The castle is known as the "little Wawel". According to Polish law, it is a "class zero monument". It is believed to be the work of a famous architect, Santi Gucci, the court artist of king Sigismund II Augustus. The castle was built around the years 1591–1606 for Rafa? and Andrzej Leszczy?ski. Its style comes from Italian renaissance.

[DonaCatalina]

Today in honor of Independence Day, we are going to France. If you don't know what the French have to do with this, go back and read your 9th grade American History book.  
The Château de Châteauneuf, also known as the Château de Châteauneuf-en-Auxois, is a 12th century fortress in France. map coordinates 47.217222, 4.64
The castle was built in 1132 by Jean de Chaudenay for his son Jehan, who took possession of it in 1175 and became Jean I de Châteauneuf. Facing the threat of the Hundred Years' War, the lords of Châteauneuf then built the powerful fortifications around the 12th century keep. After nine generations in the castle, the reign of the Châteauneufs ended in tragedy when in 1456 the last heiress, Catherine de Châteauneuf, was burnt alive for poisoning her second husband, Jacques d'Haussonville.

[DonaCatalina]

Somewhere a little different for today...
Berat Castle (Albanian: Kalaja e Bashtovës) is a castle in Berat, Albania. It is built on a rocky hill on the left bank of the river Osum and is accessible only from the south. After being burned down by the Romans in 200 B.C. the walls were strengthened in the fifth century under Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II, and were rebuilt during the 6th century under the Emperor Justinian I and again in the 13th century under the Despot of Epirus, Michael Angelus Comnenus, cousin of the Byzantine Emperor. The main entrance, on the north side, is defended by a fortified courtyard and there are three smaller entrances. The fortress of Berat in its present state, even though considerably damaged, remains a magnificent sight.

[DonaCatalina]

Akershus Castle (Akershus Festning, Akershus slott) is the old castle built to protect Oslo, the capital of Norway. It has also been used as a prison.
The first work on the castle started around the late 1290s, by King Håkon V, replacing Tønsberg as one of the two most important Norwegian castles of the period (the other being Båhus). It was constructed in response to the Norwegian nobleman, Earl Alv Erlingsson of Sarpsborg's earlier attack on Oslo.

[DonaCatalina]

Amberd Castle (also known as Anberd) is the name given to the 7th century Armenian fortress located on the slopes of Mount Aragats in the province of Aragatsotn, Armenia. It is also the the name incorrectly attributed to Vahramashen Church, the 11th century Armenian church near the fortress.
Map coordinates 40.388589, 44.226433
Amberd translates to fortress in the clouds in Armenian. It is located 2,300 meters (7,546 ft) above sea level on the slopes of Mount Aragats. The village of Byurakan is located 4 miles (6 km) away from Amberd.

The fortress was founded in the 7th century AD as a possession of the noble House of Kamsarakan. Four centuries later it was purchased by the House of Pahlavuni and rebuilt by Prince Vahram Vachutian Pahlavuni. Vahram fortified the complex with thicker stone walls and added three bastions along the ridge of the Arkhashyan canyon. The domed church was built in 1026 as testified by the inscriptions made on it; it's located between the castle and the edge of hill, looking down on the Arkhashyan river. Despite being unusual for a military installation, a bathouse was built in the same period and has remained moderately intact along with the water supply system. Amberd was overrun in the 11th century by the Seljuk Turks and destroyed by Mongols in the 13th century. The ruins cover most of the hilltop.

[DonaCatalina]

Castillo Templario de Monzón is in Aragon, Spain. It is located in the northeast (specifically the Cinca Medio district of the province of Huesca) and adjoins the rivers Cinca and Sosa.
Monzón is notable because of its relationship with the Knights Templar and for its role as a parliamentary centre in the Crown of Aragon, between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. The different realms of the Crown of Aragon each had their own laws and parliaments , but it was often convenient to hold joint sessions of a "general parliament" as Monzón was an important staging post between Zaragoza and Barcelona, it was the usual location for such meetings.

[DonaCatalina]

The Old Hrodna Castle (also known as the Hrodna Upper Castle and Bathory's Castle), in Belarus, originated in the 11th century as the seat of a dynasty of Black Ruthenian rulers, descended from a younger son of Yaroslav the Wise of Kiev.
Map coordinates 53.677782°  23.823896°
The 13th-century keep of the castle belonged to a type of Belarusian defensive tower represented by the Tower of Kamyanyets. Vytautas the Great added five Brick Gothic towers in 1391-98, transforming the castle into one of his main residences. Casimir IV Jagiellon also favoured Hrodna over Lithuania's official capital. It was there that the Polish Crown was offered to him, and it was there that he died in 1495.
The next notable tenant of the castle was Stephen Báthory who envisaged Hrodna as the capital of his vast empire in Eastern Europe. He engaged Scotto of Parma to replace the Vytautas Castle with his own residence in the advanced Renaissance taste of Northern Italy. After Bathory's death in Hrodna in 1586, his pet project was abandoned. The citadel was devastated by the Russians during a Russo-Polish War in 1655.

[DonaCatalina]

Doboj Castle (Gradina) is located in the city of Doboj in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina.
One of the most important defenses in the medieval bannate/dukedom of Usora, this large stone structure had been built in the early 13th century on the site of earlier, clay and wood-based structure from 10th/11th century. In the first period of its existence, (early 13th century) until the end of 14th/beginning of 15th century (1415), the fortress has been built in the Romanesque architecture style. This magnificent object has been burned and ransacked at least 18 times (per official/written record) in its history.

[DonaCatalina]

We're going pretty far away today.
Lyutitsa Castle (also called Liutica) is one of the largest and best preserved castles in the easternmost part of the Eastern Rhodopes, located 3.5 hours' walk south-west of Ivaylovgrad, in southernmost Bulgaria. It is also known as the "Marble City" because of its walls made of white marble.
Map coordinates 41.5025, 26.062778
Built in the 8th or 9th century, The fortress occupies an area of 26.000 m2 and has 12 towers of which eight have been preserved. The walls are up to ten metres high. The ruins of two churches have been excavated as well as a necropolis with 15 graves. Among the numerous archaeological finds are rare coins, ceramics from Preslav, jewelry, tools.

[DonaCatalina]

Cetin Castle is situated 5 kilometers (3 mi) south of Cetingrad above the village of Podcetin, in Croatia. The time of foundation of Cetin is unfortunately still unknown. There are some indications that the settlement existed there in the times of the Roman Empire. The parish of All Saints was first mentioned in 1334. In 1387 Cetin was donated to Ivan Kr?ki by king Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor and became the property of the Frankopan family.
Map coordinates 45.138333, 15.731667