Castles

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.

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    Brancovenesti Castle

    On a high terrace near Mures River was a Roman fortification, then in the Middle Ages (13th century) there was a fortress surrounded by ditches, visible today. This city was apparently destroyed by the great Mongol invasion of 1242.

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    Bratislava Castle

    Bratislava Castle is the main castle of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on an isolated rocky hill of the Little Carpathians directly above the Danube river in the middle of Bratislava.

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    Breclav Castle

    In the 11th century a border castle was established by Duke Bretislaus I which took his name. The castle served as one of the ducal administrative centres in medieval Moravia, later becoming a manor house.

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    Brekov Castle (Ruins)

    Brekov Castle is a ruined Gothic and Renaissance era stone castle above the village of Brekov in Humennr District, Presov Region, Slovakia.

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    Brest Castle

    Brest Castle was evolving in the course of several centuries from the Slavonic fortified settlement Berestye that had appeared at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries at the confluence of the Mukhavets River into the Bug River, amid islands, formed by the rivers.

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    Brody Castle

    Brody Castle is a former fortress in the city of Brody, part of Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. The first information about the construction of the castle in Brody town refers to the 1580s.

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    Bronka Castle (Ruins)

    Bronka Castle Ruins. Located in the village Bron'ka Transcarpathian region, Irshavskogo area now remaining among the ruins. First mentioned in 1273.

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    Brukenthal Castle, Sambata de Jos

    Brukenthal Castle was built in Baroque style between 1750-1760 years, during the reign of Maria Theresa, by Count Jozef von Brukenthal, the brother of Samuel von Brukenthal on an area of 1700 ha.

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    Budatin Castle

    The Budatin Castle is a castle in north-western Slovakia, near the city of Zilina, where the Kysuca river flows into the Vah river.

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    Bytca Castle

    Bytca Castle was originally built as a water castle by Pongrac Szentmiklosi in the 13th century and rebuilt between 1571 and 1574 in Renaissance style by Ferenc Thurzo.

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    Cachtice Castle (Ruins)

    The Cachtice Castle is a castle ruin in Slovakia next to the village of Cachtice. It stands on a hill featuring rare plants, and has been declared a national nature reserve for this reason.

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    Caernarfon Castle

    Caernarfon Castle is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure.

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    Calnic Fortress (Citadel)

    The Calnic Citadel is a citadel located in Calnic, Alba County, in the Transylvania region of Romania. It was built by a nobleman whose family later sold it to the local ethnic German Transylvanian Saxon community at a time when the area belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary.

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    Cantacuzino Castle

    Cantacuzino Castle is situated on Zamora Street in Busteni, Romania. The building, whose construction was completed in 1911, was conducted by the architect Gregory Cerchez at the request of Prince George Grigore Cantacuzino.

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    Capalna Dacian fortress

    Situated at the top of a steep hill, the Dacian fortress of Capalna was built in the second half of the 1st century BC as a military defense, guarding the entrance from the Sebes Valley to the capital of the Dacian kingdom, Sarmizegetusa Regia.

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    Castelgrande, Bellinzona

    The site of the Castelgrande has been fortified since at least the late 1st century BC and until the 13th century it was the only fortification in Bellinzona. During its history the castle has been known as the stronghold (before the 13th century), the Old Castle in the 14–15th centuries, Un Castle after 1506 and Saint Michael's Castle from 1818.

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    Castle (Palace), Zlin

    Initially a Gothic fort rebuilt in the second half of the 16th century in a Renaissance castle. Again rebuilt in the second half of the 18th century in Baroque style. Castle (Palace), Zlin.

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    Castle (Ruins), Aksmanice

    A spectacular castle was founded in Aksmanice by Mikolaj Wolski, the Grand Crown Marshall, the owner of the Aksmanice estates from 1617. It was probably devastated in the late 17th century during Tartar's invasions.

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    Castle (Ruins), Chelm

    Castle Ruins in Chelm. Chelm is a city in eastern Poland and located to the south-east of Lublin, north of Zamosc and south of Biala Podlaska, some 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

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    Castle (Ruins), Fredropol

    Castle Ruins in Fredropol village in Przemysl County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland, close to the border with Ukraine.

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    Castle (Ruins), Krynice

    Castle Ruins (XVIII) in Krynice village in Tomaszow Lubelski County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland.