European tour of castles.

[molly bloom]

' The Scots... spend all their time in wars, and when there is no war they fight with one another.'

Don Pedro de Ayala


As anyone who has seen a Pictish broch or the fortified manors of the Borders can attest to...

Here's Dirleton Castle, which also boasts a fine (and presumably necessary) dovecote, for those times when you couldn't rely on door to door venison and flummery delivery...

The reconstruction:

http://www.maybole.org/history/castles/dirleton.htm

This has some great photographs of the interiors:

http://www.phouka.com/travel/castles/dirleton/dirleton.html

Dirleton is a 13th Century castle which stands on a rocky knoll, dominating the centre of the picturesque village of the same name. Constructed originally by the De Vaux family around 1225, it was one of the most formidable castles of its time. However, it was captured by an English army under Bishop Anthony Bek of Durham (1298) and was only recovered by Robert the Bruce in 1311. Bruce pulled down much of the castle to ensure the English armies could not make future use of it. Rebuilt in the 14th century by the Halyburton family, who added a new gatehouse, kitchen and Great Hall, it was further augmented by the Ruthven family in the 15th century, the castle passed to Sir Thomas Erskine (1566 - 1639) following the Gowrie Conspiracy. However, it was destroyed once again by General Monk (1650). It passed to the Nisbet family (1663), but was quickly abandoned as a residence in favour of their new and more comfortable house at Archerfield. Stone was looted from the site to build houses and walls in the local area.

The castle is now in the care of Historic Scotland and substantial ruins remain, including the draw-bridge, chapel and a pit-prison. The ruins are surrounded by fine gardens, including the World's longest herbaceous border verified by the Guinness Book of Records in 1999 and a well-preserved beehive Doo'cot from 1550.

[molly bloom]

Here's the rather phallic dovecote from Dirleton, which I thought was worth a piccy on its own- what girth, my dears!

[Starchild]

Norwich Castle. The only one ever designed by the ancient Borg.

[molly bloom]

From ancient times- the Broch o' Gurness, in the Orkneys- our first line of defence against rampaging hordes of Norse students looking for cheap alcohol and less expensive degree courses ( ) .

Until the summer of 1929, the site of the Broch o' Gurness was nothing more than a massive, grassy mound by the shore.

This mound was the Knowe o' Aikerness.

The Knowe o' Aikerness

The broch was discovered by Orcadian poet and antiquarian, Robert Rendall. While sketching on the knowe, one of the legs of Rendall's stool sank into the mound. Carefully removing some of the nearby stones, Rendall uncovered a staircase leading down into the knowe.

Full excavations began later that year and, for the first time in centuries, the broch and its outbuildings saw the light of day.

The entrance way to the Gurness broch tower, lined on both sides by the buildings that made up the village.
Actual dates for the broch are unclear, but it is generally agreed that it was built between 200BC and 100BC - possibly on the site of an earlier settlement.

Standing around eight metres high (26 feet), with an internal diameter of 20 metres (65 feet), the broch was a tall, easily-defended tower, surrounded by a series of small stone dwellinghouses.

The entire settlement was circled by outer defences comprising of a band of three ramparts and three ditches.

http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/brochs/gurness/index.html

I suspect that this broch must have been quite imposing in its day, but that Midhowe Broch would have been even more impressive, especially seen from the sea:

http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/brochs/midhowe/index.html

[molly bloom]

What a broch would have looked like before the gentrification projects.

Mousa Broch is the finest surviving Iron Age broch tower. It stands to a height of over 40 feet.

[molly bloom]

Henry VIII plays his hand at Deal in Kent :

The Tudor rose was a great symbol of power. It even extended to the design of the castles that Henry VIII built along the south coast to defend himself from invation after he split with Rome in 1531.

Deal Castle is one of the finest Tudor artillery works in England. It was designed and built as part of a chain of coastal fortresses at great speed in 1539 and 1540 by order of King Henry VIII, who feared an invasion of England by the Catholic powers of Europe.

Along with Walmer Castle and the largely vanished Sandown Castle, it guarded the sheltered anchorage of the Downs - the stretch of water between the shore and the infamous Goodwin Sands, a graveyard for many ships.

In 1648, Royalist forces seized Deal Castle during the Kentish rebellion. After a long siege by parliamentary troops, the garrison surrendered after an arrow was shot into the castle with the message giving details of the decisive Royalist defeat at Preston.

In the 18th century, the castle became the official residence of the Captain of Deal, although it retained its guns until the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815.

http://www.maritimebritain.fsnet.co.uk/DEAL%20CASTLE.htm

A panorama view of Deal Castle and environs:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/places/pans/deal/castle_outside.shtml

[molly bloom]

An aerial view of Deal Castle, showing the Tudor rose symbolism in the construction; vanity and propaganda meet cutting edge defensive architecture.

"Deal Castle, Kent, is one of a remarkable group of coastal defense forts built in 1539 by Henry VIII. They were designed for artillery, and consist of a central cylindrical citadel, girt by a ring of half-round casemates, the whole enclosed by a moat conforming in outline to the fort."

W. Douglas Simpson. Castles from the Air. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1949. p54.

This site has a great older image of the castle:

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Deal_Castle.html

[BeBMan]

Lots of great pics here Makes me wish I would be touring Europe instead of sitting at home writing a paper *whines*

Since there was some discussion about castles vs. palaces we could have a spin-off from this thread later exclusively about palaces

[DeathByTheSword]

st. goar....biggest military castle on the rhine ever...


although biggest part destroyed by the french in 18 something

tried finding a map how it looked first...but cant find it

[Sir Og]

There is a nice castle in Turnovo. Turnovo was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom.

Tsarevets.




A nice pic of the Light and Sound show that they have.


And a winter pic.

[Wernazuma III]

Very fine pics, Sir Og.

[Saras]

Originally posted by Gangerolf
Oh and Trakai outside of Vilnius is

You can rent it for a wedding, too!

[Bereta_Eder]

Nice contributions

But I don't see enough german gothic

[VetLegion]

This is technically a fort, not a castle but I see the criteria is weaker by the post. XVI. century.

[molly bloom]

Not a castle as such, but certainly a stone-built place of refuge and defence for the monastic order who lived beneath it,the stone tower in Glendalough, County Wicklow, one of many across Ireland:

Glendalough, with its famous round tower is one of the most enduring images of County Wicklow. You can see the tower in the picture above with the lakes behind. A truly beautiful location which is steeped history.

The English name Glendalough comes from the Irish Gleann Dá Locha which translates to "The valley of the two lakes".

It was here that St. Kevin founded a monastery in the sixth century. From this beginning the site grew to become famous as a centre of learning throughout Europe. Indeed, Ireland was known as the "Island of Saints and Scholars". Standing amid the remains of this monastic settlement, one can feel a powerful sense of peace and tranquility.

The settlement continued to expand for 600 years and was destroyed in 1398. The buildings which survive date from the 8th and 12th centuries. The most famous is, of course, the round tower which is 34m high and 16m in circumference at the base. A cathedral, stone churches and decorated crosses also survived.

http://www.wicklow.com/glendalough/