Castles!- Large Photos

[DonaCatalina]

Kasteel Montfoort in Utrecht. Of the 12th century castle itself only a very small remnant remains and of the bailey only the entrance gate and part of the curtain wall with a tower.

[DonaCatalina]

Stokesay Castle in Shropshire, England (The Welsh Marches)
is the oldest fortified manor house in England, completed before 1291.

[LadyShadow]

Where are you finding the castles of the day?  I absolutely love them.

[LadyShadow]

Awesome.  Thank you for sharing them.

[DonaCatalina]

Totnes Castle in England. This motte and bailey castle has one of the largest mottes and best preserved shell keeps in the country.

The motte is made of layers of earth, rock and clay packed down onto a natural rock mound, and was probably built about 1100. It would have been topped by a wooden tower, but In the early 13th century a stone shell keep was added to the top of the motte, and stone walls were constructed around the bailey below.

[captmarga]

Lovely!  I'll take any or all!  Though I like Stokesay quite a bit!  Sigh.  I'm obviously just in the wrong era this time around...

Capt. Marga

[DonaCatalina]

San Giovanni d'Asso in the Province of Siena in the Italian region Tuscany. The castle itself stands on the site of an ancient Etruscan fortification, overlooking the rest of the village.

[DonaCatalina]

Castillo de Miranda de Castañar is in Salamanca, Spain near the Francia River. The castle was built between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, by Count Pedro de Zuniga, on the site of an older fortification.

[LadyShadow]

So beautiful... I want one

[DonaCatalina]

Dairsie Castle in Scotland. Dairsie Castle dates from the 16th century, and the plan has been that of an oblong main block three storeys in height, with two circular towers projecting. An archeological dig in 1992 uncovered parts of the castle that dated back to the 14th century, corroborated by 14th century Yorkshire pottery within the old ruins. The adjacent parish is ancient. In some of the earliest written references (c.1160) in the register of St Andrews Cathedral Priory, the name of Macmallothem, Thane of Dairsie, appears.

[DonaCatalina]

Tenby Castle in Pembrokshire Wales.
(delayed by computer problems)

[DonaCatalina]

Lochwood Tower in Scotland was the ancestral seat of the Johnstone clan.

[DonaCatalina]

Castello di Spedaletto in Italy. The 12th century complex, privately owned, is in a good state of maintenance, also thanks to recent works of restoration, and now is seat of a farm holiday estate.

[DonaCatalina]

Kasteel Brederode in Santpoort is about three miles north of Haarlem. It was built in the 13th century. The ruins and moat still exist, though somewhat restored.

[DonaCatalina]

Happy Holidays to all you castle lovers!
Today we go to Spain to visit Castillo de Villalonso. The Castle of Villalonso is in the town of Villalonso, province of Zamora. Maybe one of the best conserved in this region, the castle has a square groundplan. There's not so much known about the history of this castle nor the year when it was built. The original fortifications pre-date the Reconquista.