Have you got....

[onlymark]

.... a favourite castle?

After looking at Spindrifts recent thread I wondered about all the castles I've seen or visited. Obviously with being from the UK we've got our fair share, as has a lot of Europe. Yet I do seem to like the sheer bulk, power and impressive stature of old Crusader castles. There's not a frivolous part to them.
Mine is Crac des Chevaliers, in Syria.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak_des_Chevaliers

[spindrift]

What a powerfully wonderful castle. It's the real McCoy....love it! It seems impregnable.

Carcassonne springs to mind even though it is overrun with tourists.

[fumobici]

This one in Poppi is a classic in my eyes.

[Deleted]

I feel that I am already cheating, because this was a fort rather than a castle, but ever since I saw the film 'The Desert of the Tartars' I have been hypnotized by the citadel of Bam.

Unfortunately, it was totally destroyed in the earthquake in 2003 that also killed 40,000 people.

[Deleted]

Oooh...nice castles and forts. I haven't seen many, so none to post. But really like these ones.

[bixaorellana]

Weren't all castles meant to serve as forts also?

This was an easy answer for me, as I haven't seen many castles. But even if I had, the one in Manzanares el Real, outside of Madrid, holds really special memories. When I was a child, my family would go out to that area and picnic. There was nothing out there except sheep, the occasional shepherd, and lots of low winding stone walls.

Goya painted picnickers on the banks of the river, and Hemingway refers to "the bullfighters and their whores" picnicking there as well.

When we used to visit there, in the 50s, the castle was an abandoned ruin, although there was a caretaker. Apparently it's all gussied up now and a major tourist attraction. One thing I remember vividly is that on top of the hill next to the castle (on the right, below) was a great big billboard of the Michelin man.

www.castles.org/castles/Europe/Western_Europe/Spain/Manzanares/

[onlymark]

Kerouac, I seem to think Bam has cropped up from time to time over the years. I too feel is it a special place and was fortunate to visit it half a dozen or more times before it was levelled. It's a shame, I'm not dismissing for those who died in the surrounding town, but the history of the place. Nothing will ever be seen like it again.
I did have a photo or two somewhere.

[onlymark]

Weren't all castles meant to serve as forts also?

In my laymans understanding a fort was where you had troops for the purpose of controlling the immediate area whereas a castle was primarily the residence of a bigwig. So a castle will have fortifications but may not be a fort whereas as soon as a fort becomes a residence for a Noble, it becomes a castle(?)
And where does that leave a Citadel?
Or a Bastion?

[bixaorellana]

I dunno, but you are a bastion of knowledge!

[onlymark]

You calling me a bastion?
I'll let you know my parents were married.

[bixaorellana]

Sorry ~~ I meant to say "Gaston". I was calling you French.

Bastion doesn't seem so awful now, does it?

[happytraveller]

Apr 13, 2010 21:21:34 GMT spindrift said:

Carcassonne springs to mind even though it is overrun with tourists.

Oh yes I love that one !

[bjd]

Carcassonne was renovated in the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc and there is some question about how authentic he made it. He also renovated Saint-Sernin Basilica in Toulouse, but his additions were removed in the late 1980s so that the church would look more like it was intended to look.

I like the Chateau de Buzet, which we can see from the highway when we drive to Bordeaux. It looks like a fairy tale castle, although this picture is not too good.

[Deleted]

My favorite castle was a sand castle I built with my father as a child,unfortunately, no picture...was washed away by the sea.

[tillystar]

I love Arteaga castle in Northern Spain. It's a small castle that has now been converted into a hotel and restaurant (amazing food: www.kaianplentzia.com/ingles/castillo/castilloarteaga.asp)

I first met it when it was a ruin and hoped it would be renovated some day so was very happy when it was first converted and we stayed the night. I love it because the first time I laid my eyes on it was a very romantic moment and the little hermitage that we got married in stands in its shadow so it has got a little place in my heart.



As far as big proper solid castles go, Kerouac's is pretty damned fine. Sad to know I will never get to see it as my first thought was "I have to see that"!

[BigIain]

Chateau Grezan, North of Beziers...most of the walls are rebuilt but it is a great old Hospitaliers stronghold which is now owned by Madame Lanson of the Champagne house family. Set in its very own vinyards, they have wonderful appts for rental inside the old servants quarters. I love it!