Castles!- Large Photos

[Anna Iram]

In keeping with the spirit of the thread and with Warrior Monk's previous post I give you the "Castle" of the Day for February 20th.

The Phoenix Hall of the Byodoin, in front of which the First Battle of Uji, which opened the Genpei War, took place.

"The Amida Hall (originally built in 998 and converted to a temple in 1052) is more commonly known as the Phoenix Hall (Hou-do), and of the many original buildings of the Byoudou-in Temple it is the only one that has been able to stand the test of time. Fires, earthquakes and floods, even the Kusunoki Hatakeyama Civil War (1336) and the Onin Wars left the hall in peace."

http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/kyoto/byoudoin.html
Map coordinates (approx) 34.883333,135.8(Uji, Kyoto)
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.883333,135.8&spn=0.1,0.1&t=m&lci=org.wikipedia.en&q=34.883333,135.8(Uji, Kyoto)

"The first battle of Uji is famous and important for having opened the Genpei War.

In early 1180, Prince Mochihito, the Minamoto Clan's favored claimant to the Imperial Throne, was chased by Taira forces to the Mii-dera, a temple just outside Kyoto.

Due to the interference of a Mii-dera monk with Taira sympathies, the Minamoto army arrived too late to help defend the temple.

Minamoto no Yorimasa led Prince Mochihito, along with the Minamoto army and a number of warrior monks from Mii-dera, south towards Nara.

They crossed the Uji River, just outside the Byodoin, and tore up the planks of the bridge behind them to prevent the Taira following them.

Three warrior monks in particular are named in the Heike Monogatari: Gochin no Tajima, Tsutsui Jomyo Meishu, and Ichirai Hoshi. These three, along with the other monks of Mii-dera, fought with bow and arrow, a variety of swords and daggers, and naginata.

However, the Taira forces began to ford the river, and caught up with the Minamoto. Yorimasa tried to help the Prince get away, but was struck with an arrow.

He committed seppuku, setting a ritual precedent of committing suicide rather than surrendering, which would be honored up into World War II.[citation needed] This is the first known historical incident of this form of seppuku.

The Prince was captured and killed shortly afterwards by the Taira warriors."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Uji_(1180)

[Anna Iram]

Castle of the day for February 21st. Predjama Castle in Slovenia. Predjama Castle is a castle build into the rock. The construction is dated in the 12th century A.D. . Beneath it a stalactite cave which can be visited . Archelogical researches showed that the cave was inhabited since the Old Sone Age.

http://www.maplandia.com/slovenia/postojna/predjama/
45° 48' 48" North, 14° 7' 47" East

http://www.castles.nl/eur/sl/pj/pj.html





http://www.istrianet.org/istria/architecture/castles/predjama/index.htm

It's most famous and colorful inhabitant was Baron Erasmus Lueger.

"According to legend, in 1483 Erasmus came into conflict with the Habsburg establishment when he killed the commander of the Imperial army Marshall Pappencheim at the Vienna Court of Frederick III, who had offended the honor of Erasmos' friend, commander Andrej Baumkircher, whom the Emperor had beheaded. This marshall was a relative of the Emperor, so to avoid a death sentence for his revenge killing, the headstrong, daring and rebellious knight fled to his own castle which, at that time, was mainly situated in the cavern that opens at the back of today's structures. A secret natural narrow shaft leads out of the castle, which Erasmus ordered enlarged, is 37 meters long, and leads into Postojnska jama. He defied the emperor by attacking the traders' caravans that were plying on the road between Trieste and Postumia, further taunting the frustrated and angry besiegers by throwing beef, fish and fresh cherries from the castle walls."  LOL...I love this...so Monty Python. 

"Another legend according to the scholar and polymath Johann Weichard Valvasor states that after a long siege of the castle that lasted a year and a day, Rauber managed to bribe one of Erasmus' servants. This servant told him, that though the castle's walls could easily withstand cannon fire, the walls of the outhouse were quite another matter. A well aimed cannonball could penetrate its wall and kill whomever was using it at the moment. So, on an evening in 1484 when Erasmus went for those ncessities "that not even a Turkish sultan can do through a messenger," the servant gave a signal to Rauber's men and they fired at the outhouse. The catapulted cannonball passed right through and missed Erasmus. But when it hit the back wall, an avalanche of rocks buried him beneath it, ending his rebellion. Another account states that Erasmus was hit in the head by the catapulted stone missiles and thus killed outright."

All this and Ghosts too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmUWVTsqz_I&feature=related

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

The supplemental castle for 21 February is:

Rudkhan Castle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudkhan_Castle



Map coordinates 37° 3? 51.68? N, 49° 14? 21.4? E

Rudkhan Castle is a brick and stone medieval castle in Iran. Located 25 km southwest of Foman city north of Iran in Gilan province, it is a military complex which had been constructed during the Seljuk Dynasty (The Turkish tribe responsible for the launch of the First Crusade). The Castle is built on two tips of a mount, with an area of 50,000 square meters. Its architects have benefited from natural mountainous features in the construction of the fort. The Alborz and its northerly forests became impregnable fortresses for outlaws and sects such as the Ismailis that were seen by the Caliph as heretical. It cuts off a narrow spur to occupy the whole length of a precipitous ridge. Such a position could only be assaulted by trying to starve the defenders out.

http://www.allempires.net/my-trip-to-the-ancient-rudkhan-castle_topic13597_post251400.html

[DonaCatalina]

Nesvizh Castle or Niasvizh Castle is a castle of the Radziwill family in Nesvizh in Belarus.
map coordinates 53.222878, 26.691736
Originally owned by the Kiska Family during the middle ages, it was taken over by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The current castle bears little resemblance to its original version, except in the berm walls and moat. The estate was owned by the Radziwi?? Polish magnate family from 1533, when it was awarded to Miko?aj Radziwi?? and his brother Jan Radziwi?? by the Grand Duchy.

[DonaCatalina]

Kasteel Bouvigne lies close to the woodland scenery south of Breda, Belgium.
map coordinates 51.5625, 4.783333
It is unknown how old the castle is and whether it has previously looked the same as now. From 1494 records we know there was a moated stone house.

[DonaCatalina]

Château de Bolland is located in Bolland, Belgium.
map coordinates 50.661649, 5.760900
The square tower or keep remains from the 13th century medieval building, and several other parts from the 16th century.

[DonaCatalina]

Castello di Oria, also known as Svevo, occupies the hill of Screening the highest part of the city of Oria, Italy.
map coordinates 40.499978, 17.641391
This spot has been inhabited since the remotest periods. In fact this area was occupied by the acropolis messapica , which probably was endowed with walls around the sixth century as it is still visible a few hundred feet down in the cathedral square. Most of the current walls were additions built by Emperor Frederich II about 1225.

[DonaCatalina]

Velika Kladusa Castle is a castle in Velika Kladusa, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
map coordinates 45.181954, 15.800196
Velika Kladusa was first mentioned by name on October 30, 1280 (date on its shield) by the name Cladosa.

[DonaCatalina]

Pliska, the fortress and town, are archeological sites in Bulgaria.
map coordinates 43.387, 27.132
Pliska was the capital of Bulgaria between 681 and 893 AD.

[DonaCatalina]

Hailongtun Castle is in the mountains of China.
map coordinates 27.811811, 106.818434
Built in 1257 during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the castle issurrounded by the Longyan Mountains on the three sides, with only one narrow path through nine passes to the outside world.

[DonaCatalina]

Nehaj is a castle in Croatia.
map coordinates 44.986, 14.903
The Nehaj fortress, the symbol of Senj, was built in 1558.

[DonaCatalina]

Jenstejn Castle ruins are located in Jenstejn, Czech Republic.
map coordinates 50.153469, 14.610968
A Gothic castle from the beginning of the 14th century, it has been linked to the personality of Archbishop Jan of Jenštejn. The castle was destroyed by the Swedish army in 1641.

[DonaCatalina]

Dronningholm Castle is an early medieval castle in Denmark.
map coordinates 55.97025, 12.056854
Started by Valdemar the Great (dead 1182) accomplished ca. 1200 by Valdemar the Victorious. The castle is now a ruin.

[DonaCatalina]

Viljandi castle, of Teutonic Order, was one of the strongest castles in Livonia.
map coordinates 58.359167, 25.595
Construction began in 1224 on the site of an old hillfort.

[DonaCatalina]

Château du Bernstein is a ruined castle in the commune of Dambach-la-ville, France.
map coordinates 48.321944, 7.399722
Originally, the castle belonged to the Counts of Eguisheim Dabo. After the siege of 1227 it became the property of the bishop of Strasbourg.