Today I will talk about the most historic castles. The castle that played significant role in history of Europe. This article is based on this wonderful list and you can follow the link to see much more beautiful castles.
- Let’s start with my favorite castle. Personally I has never seen it in real life, but history of this castle and photos of it are amazing. It is Edinburgh Castle. The symbol of the city of Edinburgh and the stronghold nobody managed to conquer. It was founded in the 12th century by Scottish king David and was involved in many military engagements including Wars of Scottish Independence. Today it is very popular and more than 70% of visitors to Edinburgh visited the castle.
- New nice object is gonna be Krak des Chevaliers. It is notable for being outside Europe, where majority of castle are located. Krak des Chevaliers was built just after the third Crusade by Knights Hospitaller as a major stronghold in Holy Land. They lost it in 1271 when Mamluk Sultan Baibars captured Krak des Chevaliers after a siege lasting 36 days. Unfortunately it is now a bit damaged during the Syrian civil war.
- Next castle is also very popular tourist attraction and sometimes is listed as one of symbols of France. It is located about one kilometer off the country’s northwestern coast and is strategic fortifications since ancient times where the castle was founded by an Irish hermit who gathered a following from the local community. gained strategic significance again in 933 when William I Longsword annexed the Cotentin Peninsula from the weakened Duchy of Brittany.
- Cité de Carcassonne. One of the oldest castle in the list. Originally it was founded as an ancient Roman citadel. It played significant role in local fortifications for may centuries. After 1226, an additional line of fortifications was added outside of the Roman walls. The town was finally annexed to the kingdom of France in 1247 A.D. It provided a strong French frontier between France and the Crown of Aragon. The citadel was restored at the end of the 19th century.
- I thing everyone has listened to something about next castle at least once. Tower of London. Initially was built by William the Conqueror after conquest of the kingdom of England in 1066. The Tower was built to afraid English people and force to obey them and control River Thames. For many centuries the castle was symbol of King’s power and was used as prison for political opponents. Now it is one of the most popular tourist attraction in London.
- Do you know the World’s largest castle? It is located in Poland and is called Malbork Castle. It was built when this territory belonged to Teutonic order, which has a lot of power in Central and Eastern Europe. The order, which had many posts throughout Europe and Asia chose Malbork to be their capital. After the battle of Grunewald in 1410 Teutons lost their power and influence. At the conclusion of the war, the city of Malbork and castle became again a part of Poland and was rename Marienburg.
- One more English castle, Windsor Castle. As well as Tower of London it was founded after conquest of England by the Normans. For many year Windsor Castle is residence of English and British kings. Many of them built or change a little something in the castle was formed throughout all eight centuries. William the Conqueror, who ordered the construction of the castle, built it wooden, but today it is one of the most beautiful castles in the World. On the picture you can see Round Tower, the oldest part of Windsor Castle.
History in Pictures 