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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3Old Princely Castle (Ruins), Ceahlau
Old Princely Castle ruins in Ceahlau commune in Neamt County, Romania.
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3Olesko Castle
Olesko Castle is located within the borders of the present-day Busk Raion in Ukraine. The first historical records of the castle are in a document dated 1327, when Pope Boniface IX gave Halych, a Catholic bishop, this castle as a gift.
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9Olyka Castle
Olyka Castle, located in Olyka, Ukraine was the principal seat of the Radziwill princely family in Volhynia from 1564 until the late 18th century. The founder of the castle was Prince Mikolaj "the Black" Radziwill (1515–1565) who gave Olyka to his youngest son Stanislaw.
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6Onod Castle
Onod Castle. The castle was built at the end of the 14th century and was expanded in the 16th and 17th centuries.
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1Oponice Castle (Ruins)
The dominant landmark over the town and the surrounding area is Oponice Castle, which has stretched up above the Tribec Mountains since the 13th century. The castle originally served to guard and to protect the Principality of Nitra against the Tartars and the Turks.
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7Orava Castle
Orava Castle, is situated on a high rock above Orava river in the village of Oravsky Podzamok, Slovakia. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful castles in Slovakia.
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7Ostroh Castle
The Ostroh Castle is a castle in the city of Ostroh, located in the Rivne Oblast of western Ukraine. In the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, the castle was the key stronghold of the powerful House of Ostroh. Today it is in ruins.
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2Ostry Kamen Castle (Ruins)
North of Smolenice is the village Bukova with water reservoir and a marked route, which leads southward to the romantic ruins of the Castle Ostry Kamen from the 13th century.
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1Pajstun Castle (Ruins)
Pajstun or Pajstun Castle is a ruins of a medieval castle located in Little Carpathians in Slovakia, near village Borinka. It lies at an altitude of 486 m.
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8Palanok Castle, Mukachevo
The Palanok Castle or Mukachevo Castle is a historic castle in the city of Mukachevo in the western Ukrainian oblast (province) of Zakarpattia. The Palanok Castle is delicately preserved, and is located on a former 68 metre high volcanic hill.
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1Parad Castle (Ruins)
Parad Castle (Ruins) near village Parad in Heves County, Hungary, north of the Matra, in the valley of the Paradi-Tarna.
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2Parustan Castle (Ruins)
Parustan Castle was built in the 13th century. Now Parustan Castle ruins are located in Backovska Valley,Eastern Slovakia, Trebisovska district.
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10Peles Castle
Peles Castle is a Neo-Renaissance castle in the Carpathian Mountains, near Sinaia, in Prahova County, Romania, on an existing medieval route linking Transylvania and Wallachia, built between 1873 and 1914.
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5Pfalzgrafenstein Castle
Pfalzgrafenstein Castle is a toll castle on the Falkenau island, otherwise known as Pfalz Island in the Rhine river near Kaub, Germany. Known as "the Pfalz," this former stronghold is famous for its picturesque and unique setting.
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2Pidhirtsi Castle
Pidhirtsi Castle is a residential castle-fortress located in the village of Pidhirtsi in Lviv Oblast (province) western Ukraine, located eighty kilometers east of Lviv. It was constructed by Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan between 1635–1640 by order of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's Grand Crown Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski, on the place of the older fortress.
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4Pidzamochok Castle (Ruins)
Pidzamochok castle is an old castle, dating near 1600, located in Pidzamochok, Buchach Raion, Ternopil oblast, Ukraine. Founder - Jan Zbozny (Tworowski-Buczacki).
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3Pieniny Castle (Ruins)
Pieniny Castle ruins - are located below Castle Mountain summit in the Three Crowns massif, in the Pieniny Mountains (Pieniny National Park).
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4Plavec Castle (Ruins)
Plavec Castle - ruins of a castle from 13th century, lies in northeast part of Slovakia, between Saris and Spis region.
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2Plesivec Castle (Ruins)
In the village of Plesivec, around 16 km from the town of Roznava, the remains of Plesivec gothic castle of the 13th century. Plesivec Castle (Ruins).
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4Pniv Castle (Ruins)
It was built in the second half of the XVI century by Kuropatovs, Polish feudalists, who received the land from King Vladislav Opilsky for for "loyalty"to the Polish Kingdom and faithful service.
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4Poenari Castle (Ruins)
Poenari Castle, also known as Poenari Citadel (Cetatea Poenari in Romanian), is a ruined castle in Romania, notable for its connection to Vlad III the Impaler. Access to the citadel is made by climbing the 1,480 concrete stairs.
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1Pogany Castle, Paclisa
Pogany Castle - baroque castle in Paclisa village, Romania. Castle was built around 1800 year.
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7Pomoriany Castle
Pomoriany Castle is a ruined castle in the village of Pomoriany, Zolochiv District, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It originated in the 16th century as a well-fortified noble residence on the bank of the Zolota Lypa River.
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5Porto Palermo Castle
Porto Palermo Castle is a castle near Himare in southern Albania. Huffington Post ranked Porto Palermo first among 15 Undiscovered European Destinations for 2014.
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10Potzneusiedl Castle
The construction of the present castle had been started on the year 1798 and was finalised in 1808. Partly the walls of the castle are grounded on gothic foundation walls. Potzneusiedl Castle.
