Castles!- Large Photos

[DonaCatalina]

Smolenice Castle is a castle in the eastern slope of the Little Carpathians, near the town of Smolenice, Slovakia.
map coordinates 48.513611, 17.432222
The Smolenice Castle was built up in the half of 15th century. The castle was damaged in the spring of 1945 during the World War II, and in that same year the state became the owner of it.

[DonaCatalina]

Samitier Castle is located in the outskirts of the town of Samitier, province of Huesca, Spain.
map coordinates 42.300811, 0.198458
Samitier is a landmark of the border built by King Sancho III el Mayor Pamplona between 1017 and 1035.

[DonaCatalina]

Castillo de Luesia domintaes the center of the town of Luesia, Spain.
map coordinates 42.369491, -1.022743
Although known to be of Muslim origin and was called Hisn Lawuasa, the first records that we have of the castle are from the year 911, when the place belonged to Sancho I of Navarre.

[DonaCatalina]

Madeln is a ruined castle in Pratteln, Switzerland.
map coordinates 47.506795, 7.697039 
The castle was probably built in 1270 by the Eptinger at the highest point of the Eagle Mountain. The legend of Madlenjäger is a variant of the wild hunt is and was a harbinger of stormy weather as interpreted. According to legend, the knight of Madlen struck those of Schauenburg to rob him of his wife. As punishment, he now had his white hunting dog here in the woods hunting with the eagle's.

[DonaCatalina]

Münchberg is a ruined castle from the 13th century close to the towns Aesch and Pfeffingen , in Switzerland.
map coordinates 47.462172, 7.572306
The ruin is set in a rocky heads separated by a ridge above the Klusertal to 477 meters at the access road to the top Pass. The castle was built in the second half of the 13th Century, but after 1286, by Conrad III. Münch, a member of the Basel nobility.

[DonaCatalina]

Bosjokloster castle is on the shore of Lake Ringsjön in Höör Municipality, Scania, southern Sweden.
map coordinates 55.877222, 13.518611
The Castle was in 1080 as a nunnery by the Benedictine Order, but during the Danish Reformation in the 16th century, the nunnery was closed down and the estate became Danish crown property.

[DonaCatalina]

Qal'at Ja'bar is a castle on the left bank of Lake Assad in Ar-Raqqah Governorate, Syria.
map coordinates 35.8975, 38.480833
Its site, formerly a prominent hill-top overlooking the Euphrates Valley, is now an island in Lake Assad that can only be reached by an artificial causeway. Although the hilltop on which the castle sits was possibly already fortified in the 7th century, the current structures are primarily the work of Nur ad-Din Zangi, who rebuilt the castle from 1168 onwards.

[DonaCatalina]

Halych, or Halich Castle is located in Ivano-Frankovsk region, in the center of the town in Ukraine.
map coordinates 49.121886, 24.730771
This town and castle was the capital of Halych Rus in 11th-13th centuries. Very recently one wing of the castle has been reconstructed from the ruins. Other parts remain in ruins.

[DonaCatalina]

Flint Castle is located in Flint, Flintshire, Wales.
map coordinates 53.251786, -3.129956
Flint was the first of a series of castles built during King Edward I's campaign to conquer Wales. Building work began in 1277 under Richard L'Engenour, who would later became Mayor of Chester in 1304.

[DonaCatalina]

Let us go today to the country that is synonymous with L'Amour. Château de Bonaguil is a castle in the French commune of Saint-Front-sur-Lémance.
map coordinates 44.538056, 1.014444
The château de Bonaguil was possibly the last of the fortified castles. It was built in the 13th century, but was entirely restructured at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries by Bérenger de Roquefeuil.

[DonaCatalina]

Hawarden Old Castle is a medieval castle near Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales.
map coordinates 53.180849, -3.01977
Its age is indeterminate and may date back to the Iron Age fortifications. The original Norman Motte-and-bailey castle was reportedly destroyed and replaced in a short period during the 13th century.

[DonaCatalina]

Pogradec Castle, also referred to as Shpelle, (Albanian:Kalaja e Pogradecit) is a castle in Pogradec, Albania.
map coordinates 40.908400, 20.646254
Archeological evidence suggests that the walls were raised as early as the 4th century BC. Today little remains.

[DonaCatalina]

Burg Lockenhaus is a castle located in Lockenhaus, Austrian state of Burgenland.
map coordinates 47.404028, 16.424583
The castle was built around 1200 and was initially called "Leuca".

[DonaCatalina]

You have to love the name of this one. Burgruine Finkenstein is a castle in Carinthia, Austria.
map coordinates 46.546592, 13.903081
Evidence indicates that Finkenstein was built in the early 1300's but little is known of its builders. Today the castle's gounds host concerts and fairs.

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

The featured castle for 19 February is:

Montezuma's Castle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montezuma_Castle_National_Monument



Map coordinates 34° 36? 47? N, 111° 50? 24? W

Most associate castles and the eras of their construction with that of Europe and the Middle East. During the 12th century, Native American tribes of the American Southwest began evacuating their above-ground pueblos to build spectacular cliff dwellings housing hundreds of people in the later half of the century. Also the Native American (Prairie Knights) population of North America probably peaked near the end of the 12th century (This is the very time period of the Crusades). Built by the Sinaquas. Ancient Indian Tribe who built the cliff dwellings called Montezuma Castle about 700 years ago in the early 1300s. And for unknown reasons, the Sinaqua abandoned their habitat in this Verde Valley Arizona area in the 1400s. Maybe they had over extended agricultural pressure on the land. Perhaps there was a lengthy drought or they could have been eliminated through conflict with the Yavapai Indians that still exist today. If there were any Sinaqua survivors, they were likely absorbed into other Indian Tribes to the north extras

http://www.nps.gov/moca/index.htm