A castle (from Latin: castellum) is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified; from a fortress, which was not always a residence for nobility; and from a fortified settlement, which was a public defence - though there are many similarities among these types of construction. Usage of the term has varied over time and has been applied to structures as diverse as hill forts and country houses. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls and arrowslits, were commonplace.
Castles
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1Povazsky Castle (Ruins)
Povazsky hrad is a ruin of medieval castle on the right side of the river Vah, near PovazskaBystrica in Slovakia. It is thought to be the essential part of silhouette of Povazie and Upper Vah region especially.
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8Prostejov Chateau (Castle)
The Prostejov Chateau (Castle), with four wings around a central courtyard and enclosed by a moat on its south and west sides, is situated on the north-west edge of the historical centre, on the line of the original town walls.
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10Przemysl Castle (Casimir Castle)
Przemysl Castle or Casimir Castle is a Renaissance castle in Przemysl, Poland, located on the Castle Hill, which rises to a height of 270 metres above the city and San River.
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5Pusty Hrad Castle (Ruins)
Pusty Hrad is a castle whose ruins are located on a forested hill in the southern part of Zvolen in central Slovakia. With an area of 76,000 m² it is arguably one of the largest medieval castles in Europe.
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1Pusztavar Castle (Ruins)
Pusztavar Castle (Ruins). The fortress ruins standing in the village's border appeared as Solymos castle once. The castle Tolcsva a family built it up after the 1312, his centre may have been their lordship.
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10Rabensburg Castle
The Rabensburg Castle is a castle in the municipality of the same name Rabensburg in Lower Austria.
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7Radziwillow Castle Complex, Biala Podlaska
The remainings of the baroque palace house the district museum. Originally there was a castle here, built by the Radziwill family in the 16th century. It was surrounded by the earth fortifications with a moat in the shape of a star.
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3Rakovets Castle (Ruins)
The castle was found at the beginning of the XVII by the Dominick Voycekh Benievskyi, court circle servant of Halych. Being unfinished in 1657 it already had stand a siege of the Cossack colonel A. Zhdanovych, sent by Bohdan Khmelnytskyi to help Transylvanian voevode Yurii II Rakotsa.
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1Regeci Castle (Ruins)
Regeci Castle (Ruins). The castle first appears in certificates from 1307 as possession of Amade of the Aba clan, an oligarch of Northern Hungary at the time.
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6Rytro Castle (Ruins)
Castle in Rytro - the ruins of a medieval castle on a hill near the village of Rytro in Nowy Sacz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland.
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10Saint Michael's Castle
St. Michael's Castle is a former royal residence in the historic centre of Saint Petersburg, Russia. St. Michael's Castle was built as a residence for Emperor Paul I by architects Vincenzo Brenna and Vasili Bazhenov in 1797-1801.
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1Sajogalgoc Castle (Ruins)
Sajogalgoc Castle (Ruins) near village Sajogalgoc is a village in Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen County in northeastern Hungary.
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1Sajonemeti Castle (Ruins)
Sajonemeti Castle (Ruins). The Sajonemeti castle has destroyed the castle Uppony Mountains on the northern slope near Sajonemeti is a village in Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen County in northeastern Hungary.
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5Salamon Tower (Lower Castle), Visegrad
The Lower Castle is the part of the fortification system that connects the Upper Castle with the Danube. In its centre rises the Solomon Tower, a large, hexagonal residential tower dating from the 13th century.
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5Salgo Castle (Ruins)
Salgo Castle (Ruins). Salgo is a Hungarian stronghold near to Salgotarjan (Nograd county), 120 km from Budapest.
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7Sancrai Castle (Kemeny)
The castle from Sancrai, Alba County, was built in 1805 by the Kemeny family and it is located 30 kilometers away from Alba Iulia. The castle was built in a mixture of styles, respecting the mainly baroque principles.
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5Sanok Royal Castle (Historical Museum)
The Sanok Royal Castle was built in the late 14th century in Sanok, Poland. The castle is situated on the San River at hill 317 m above sea level on a steep slope. Today it is the seat of the Sanok Historical Museum.
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10Sarospatak Castle
Sarospatak Castle. The Rakoczi Castle should be your first stop in Sarospatak. The oldest part of the castle, the five-storey Red Tower, dates from the late 15th century – inside you’ll find period rooms in excellent condition.
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3Sasso Corbaro, Bellinzona
Sasso Corbaro, known as Unterwalden Castle after 1506 and Saint Barbara's Castle after 1818, is about 600m south-west of town on a rocky hill. Unlike the other two castles Sasso Corbaro is not integrated into the city walls.
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4Sataniv Castle (Ruins)
Sataniv Castle Ruins in Sataniv village in the Horodok Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine.
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3Satoraljaujhely Castle (Ruins)
Satoraljaujhely Castle (Ruins) near Satoraljaujhely in Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen county in northern Hungary near the Slovak border. Satoraljaujhely Castle archeological site. Remains of the Castle.
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7Savarsin Castle
Savarsin Castle is a large Country house situated in Savarsin Park, a 6.5 hectare private land owned by former King Michael I of Romania in Savarsin, Arad County, Transylvania, Romania. It is King Michael's official country residence in Romania where the statutes defining the role and powers of the Royal Family are signed.
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1Schattenburg Castle, Feldkirch
The first time in history the name of a castle was mentioned was in the chronicle by the monks Ortlieb and Berthold from the year 1138. Muntifurt Castle, mentioned in the first half of the 12th Century, may have housed vassals of the Earl of Bregenz, who ruled over the area at the time.
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4Serednie Castle (Ruins)
A castle of the Order of Knights Templars of 12th century ХІІ in the village of Serednie in Uzhhorod district of Transcarpathian region. Now it is in a sad plight of unmanaged ruins.
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3Sharhorod Castle (Ruins)
Sharhorod Castle Ruins 1585 year in Sharhorod town in Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine.
