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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1Hasznos (Hasnos) Castle (Ruins)
Hasznos (Hasnos) Castle (Ruins). The castle near the village of Hasznos, Hungary.
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1Hedervary Castle
Presumably Knight Heder already had had a castle built in the middle of the 12th Century, which had probably been made of wood and had stood on the so called "Jewish Hill" rising at the end of the recent castle park.
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5Herburt Castle (Ruins), Dobromyl
Stanislav Herburt began building this high castle in 1566, but it would be his son Jan Schasnyi (Lucky) that would complete its construction. Jan was highly educated and talented and made a great contribution to the building of the town Dobromyl below his castle.
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10Himeji Castle
Himeji Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle complex located in Himeji, in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.
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1Hodejov Castle (Ruins)
Hodejov castle was built in 13th century and destroyed by Osmans in 1571. Today only some ruins remain. Hodejov Castle (Ruins).
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6Holic Castle (Palace)
Holic Castle (Palace). A perished castle built in 12th century. In the second half of 16th century rebuilt to the Fort. A mansion house was built on its place in 1750.
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10Holloko Castle
Holloko Castle. According to contemporary documents the earliest buildings were established by Kacsics nation, among them were the pentagonal old tower.
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3Holumnica Castle (Ruins)
The castle was built in Gothic-Renaissance style and it was inhabited until in 17th century when a mansion in the centre of the village has became the family home. Holumnica Castle (Ruins).
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3Hricovsky Castle (Ruins)
The ruins of the castle on rock in Sulovskie mountain (it’s a part of the protecte landscape area Strazovske vrchy). It was built in XIII century and had many owners until XVII.
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3Hronsek Water Castle (Renaissance mansion)
Hronsek Water Castle (Renaissance mansion). The oldest surviving building is the water castle that was builded in the 15th century. In 1576 year castle was rebuilt and fortified.
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4Jasenov Castle (Jasenovsky hrad) (Ruins)
Jasenov Castle is a ruined Gothic and Renaissance era stone castle above the village of Jasenov in Humenne District, Presov Region, Slovakia. Jasenov Castle (Jasenovsky hrad) (Ruins).
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3Josika Castle, Branisca
Josika Castle in Branisca commune in Hunedoara County, Romania.
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1Kacs Castle (Ruins)
Kacs Castle (Ruins) near village Kacs in Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen County in northeastern Hungary.
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5Kalnoky Castle, Hoghiz
Kalnoky Castle in Hoghiz commune in Brasov County, Romania.
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5Kalnoky Manor, Miclosoara
Miklosvar is the oldest documented settlement of Szeklerland. Its castle was first mentioned in 1211 AD as border fortress between the territory donated to the Knights of the Teutonic Order and the rest of the Kingdom of Hungary.
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1Kamenica Castle (Ruins)
Kamenica first developed out of the castle of the same name that was built on a nearby hillock in the early 13th century in order to protect a major Polish trading route that had its terminus in Kosice to the south.
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8Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle
Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle is a former Ruthenian-Lithuanian castle and a later three-part Polish fortress located in the historic city of Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine, in the historic region of Podolia in the western part of the country.
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3Kankiv Castle (Ruins)
The castle on Chorna Hora (Black Mountain) was built over the ancient settlement of the Stanovo Culture (14th – 12th Century B.C.). When the Magyars, the predecessors to the Hungarian nation, first arrived in the Tisa and Danube River basin in the 9th Century AD they recorded a fort on this spot by the local Slavic chieftain.
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7Karolyi Castle, Carei
Karolyi Castle, Carei. The first known residence of the Karolyi family in Carei dates back to the end of the 15th century. It must have been a solid building provided with fortifications as long as the nobles of the county thought of it as a menace and asked for its demolition.
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3Kazimir Castle (Ruins)
Kazimir Castle (Ruins). Ruins of the castle built in the 13th century. Nowadays only one wall exists.
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1Kendeffy Castle, Santamaria-Orlea
Kendeffy castle in Santamaria-Orlea (Hunedoara) was built in 1782 by Count Elek Kendeffy, member of a very wealthy noble family, one of the oldest families in Transylvania (the oldes attestation dating since 1236).
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7Kezmarok Castle
Kezmarok Castle. In the place of the present-day castle, the Church of St. Elisabeth stood in the 2nd half of the 13th century. The church belonged to the village of the Saxon colonists.
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2Khust Castle (Ruins)
Khust Castle - fortifications that existed in the 11. to 18. century Khust (Transcarpathian region, Ukraine). The castle was built as the Hungarian royal fortress to protect the salt from Solotvyna and to protect the border area. Its construction began in 1090 and was completed by King Bela III. In 1191.
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1Kismurany Castle (Ruins)
Castle Ruins in village Nizna Slana is a and municipality in the Roznava District in the Kosice Region of middle-eastern Slovakia. Kismurany Castle was destroyed in 1459.
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3Kisnana Castle
Kisnana Castle. The Castle of Kisnana is one of the most beautiful remains of late-Medieval noble residences in Hungary. Its history well demonstrates the evolution and transformation of landlord residences.
