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Wherever there is money, there will be castles built. I found 300 castles in the United States alone! But it’s the older castles with a rich history that I want to visit. You know about Buckingham Palace, the Vatican Palace, and the Forbidden City, and here are some other fascinating castles you may not be familiar with.
1. Predjamski
Predjamski Castle in Slovenia is built into the entrance of a cave system that runs through the mountain, making it a seige-proof fortress. It was first constructed in the 13th century, and expanded several times. Predjamski Castle has its own railway and concert hall! You can see panoramic photos of the castle interior, the cave under the castle, and more pictures here.
2. Mont Saint-Michel
Mont Saint-Michel was built on a tiny tidal island just off the French coast in the 8th century as a monastery. It was greatly expanded in the 11th and 12th centuries, then converted to a prison after the French Revolution. The prison closed in 1963. Mont Saint-Michel has been featured in numerous movies, cartoons, and even videogames. See more photos here.
3. Castel Gandolfo
Castel Gandolfo lies at the intersection of religion and science. Actually, it is located on a ridge outside Rome. Built in the 17th century over the ruins of a Roman palace, it is the Pope’s summer residence, but also the home of the Vatican Observatory. Of the three domes you see, one is a church, the other two are mobile telescope domes!
More fascinating castles, after the jump.
4. Palacia de Pena
Palacia de Pena (Pena Palace) is perched atop the Sintra mountain range in Portugal. First built in the 15th century as a palace, it was later reconstructed and donated to the church as a monastery. An earthquake in 1755 ruined most of it. Prince Fernando aquired it in 1838 and rebuilt and expanded it. The style of the palace is a eclectic combination of the original and subsequent styles, plus Romantic, Bavarian, and Moorish architecture, plus an English garden.
5. Taktshang
Taktshang (Tiger’s Nest Monastery) in Bhutan hangs on the side of a cliff 2,300 feet above the Paro valley. The mountain houses nine sacred caves. The constucrtion of the original Buddhist temple began in 1692, and was recently restored after a devastating fire in 1998. Access to Taktshang is by foot or by mule only. Save yourself some steps and see a huge gallery of photos here.
6. St. Hilarion
St. Hilarion Castle in North Cyprus was built on the site where the monk who would become St. Hilarion lived his hermit’s life in a cave. The Byzantines built monastery and church in the tenth century, and expanded into a castle in the 12th century, used as a watchtower and defense against Arab pirates. It was decommisioned in the 15th century to save money, and fell into ruins.
7. Chillingham
Chillingham Castle is in Northumberland, near the England-Scotland border. Originally built in the 12th century as a monastery, it became a military stronghold in the medieval battles between the two nations. The current owners claim that it is the most haunted castle in Britain, with sporadic appearances by the “blue boy,” Lady Mary Berkeley, and other ghosts.
8. Bran
Earlier this year, we all saw the news that Dracula’s Castle was up for sale. This is Bran Castle near Brasov, in the Transylvania region of Romania. Historians don’t think Vlad the Impaler ever lived there. According to some accounts, he spent a couple of days in the dungeon of Bran Castle as the guest of the Ottoman Empire. However, Bran Castle inspired Bram Stoker’s writings, and it was also used in some Dracula films.
9. Poienari
Vlad Tepes actually lived at Poienari Castle in the Wallachia region of Romania. High on the side of a mountain, it was a imposing military fortress. Poienari was abandoned in the 16th century. A landslide in 1888 brought down some of the walls. To see the ruins of Poienari Castle, you must climb 1,426 steps, or just click here.
Comments (13)
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I visited Mont Saint-Michel many years ago, and I had heard that the local restaurants were famous for their omelettes. The only one I saw on the menu when I stopped for lunch was the “Omelette Montoise” (or something like that). So my friends and I all ordered one.
Turns out it’s a 30-egg omelette. And the center is all raw, whipped egg white. Somewhere I still have the gawky tourist photos we took of our progress on each one. (The winner ate a third of his.)
I guess that really is their specialty, though. Rick Steves has this to say on one of his sites:
Puffy omelettes (omelette montoise) are Mont St. Michel’s specialty.
So come hungry.
posted by Griner on 4-3-2007 at 8:23 am
Yes, definitely visit Mont Saint-Michel. It’s a great place and very imposing. The streets spiral around from the base up to the castle and its mostly origonal, or good reproduction(if you ignore the people and the shop signs). If you’re in slovenian capital Ljubjana, try aquick visit to the castle there. It fairly small but it’s on the top of a hill and has a pretty high tower. It’s also amusingly unsafe, standing on the tower above the height of the city tower blocks on ice covered stone blocks with only a 2 foot wall at the edge.
posted by Josh on 4-3-2007 at 11:09 am
I’m going to Paris this fall on Honeymoon, and my fiance had mentioned wanting to go to Mont St. Michel. I had never heard of it but he tried to explain. So thanks for the picture!
posted by Sara on 4-3-2007 at 12:37 pm
well well, someone who has actually done some accurate homework on Pena! Congratulations.
posted by stephenbrody on 4-3-2007 at 5:21 pm
Castle visits would be excellent if you could go back in time & see them as they were when actually occupied by the owners.
The disappointment is always when they’ve been abandoned for hundreds of years, or “redecorated” incorrectly.
The BEST castles are those built by King Ludwig of Bavaria. Shortly after his death they were turned into museums by the government, so they remain furnished just as Ludwig created them.
photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/corsinet/sets/72157594334966622/
posted by Julie on 4-4-2007 at 2:26 pm
Clearly more people on this site have been to Mont St Michel than the other selections. I have to chime in on the wonder of this place. I went to visit in the height of the tourist season in the summer. The best decision I made on that entire trip was to spend the night at the hotel on the ‘island’. I woke up quite early and wandered the place before most of the people on buses and in cars showed up – wow. Misty and inspiring. I was also able to see the tide come in – the even more amazing thing about the place than the building itself!
posted by Jennifer on 12-25-2007 at 9:28 am
Visit Palacio da Pena and you’ll never forget it because that visit will lead you through Sintra and that leads to Lisbon and then to Portugal and you’ll never ever want anything else than Portugal!
posted by xixita on 12-26-2007 at 6:02 am
Mont St. Michel is quite beautiful, and I enjoyed it. I’ve also been to Bran Castle, which was interesting. There’s really not much in the way of furniture, or stuff in the castle- there is some, it’s just not as much as you usually see. There weren’t any mirrors, though. I like castles that have interesting architecture, because at least then you’re not spending hours looking at old furniture.
posted by greenstrawberries on 1-15-2008 at 2:53 am
I remember reading a vampire/adventure novel which partly takes place at Mont St. Michel, with Vlad Tepes supposedly hiding some historical documents there, which I guess sort of makes the castle a third on on this list related to Dracula. I thought the novel was The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, but I couldn’t find a reference to the place on the novel’s wikipedia page. Anyone else know what I’m talking about?
Also, Angela Carter’s short story, The Bloody Chamber (a revamp of Bluebeard tale), takes place in a Mont St. Michel-inspired castle.
Besides the novels, you commentors are really making me want to visit!
posted by nutmeag on 9-9-2009 at 10:33 am
Bran is hardly a castle. More like a big house. The area is beautiful though. Here is a video I made last year of the there. The first shot is in Bran castle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTA58WCQ68g
posted by TimCthefilmguy on 9-9-2009 at 2:07 pm
I had the opportunity to go to Taktsang Lhakhang on a study abroad to Bhutan! It was beautiful. Usually visitors can only go th the viewpoint across from the monastery (which is likely where the photo you posted was taken from), but because we were students we got to go inside, eat lunch with the head of the monastery and attend a Puja! It was awesome.
posted by Becky on 9-9-2009 at 3:44 pm
One of King Ludwig’s best is Neuschwanstein.
posted by Cait on 9-9-2009 at 7:03 pm
Another must-see is the (relatively) modest Chenonceau. Its most unique feature is the long ballroom, which happens to be situated *over* the Cher River (a tributary of the Loire). This castle is a bridge, which is part of the reason it’s in such good condition — when most French castles were getting sacked in the French Revolution, this one was spared because it was a bridge and therefore valuable to the people. Also, the woman who owned it at the time was very friendly and much loved by the local people. That’s also part of the castle’s charm — for almost its entire history, it was owned by women. It’s almost a soap opera, going through there. ;-)
posted by Calli Arcale on 9-10-2009 at 4:40 pm