# Pictures of Castles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827 "2015-09-12T15:00:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/21 "2015-09-12T21:40:25Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > For something completely different, [here are some castles in Japan](https://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/albums/72157633299520175) that I’ve taken pictures of. Outstanding shots of some amazing Japanese architecture. I have always been a fan of their unique combination of grace and power. The stonework alone is amazing. Thanks for these! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/22 "2015-09-12T22:11:48Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Amazing! Which is your favorite? Sintra is really something to see, and Belem Tower looks like something from a wedding cake. But I really like the Castle of the Moors, also located in Sintra. The antiquity, location and construction are wonderful. Living in Europe for eight years had its benefits; I can’t begin to recount all the castles I saw in Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, etc. Oh, and [Prague Castle](http://www.layoverguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Prague-Castle-over-Vltava-river-Czech-Republic.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/23 "2015-09-12T23:07:27Z")
You poor prideless, diversity-loving people. [Stormfront.org](http://Stormfront.org) has a thread about castles; part of their white/European heritage thing. Look for “The outrageous beauty of medieval castles.” Cant post a link. Using my phone. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/24 "2015-09-12T23:13:42Z")
It’s only a model. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/25 "2015-09-12T23:18:01Z")
I have a kinda strange question: are any of these castles verboten to be photographed like Falling Waters in SW PA? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/26 "2015-09-12T23:29:40Z")
One of my favorites is the [Chateau de Coucy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Coucy). Deliberately dynamited by the Germans during the First World War as part of their misguided policy of intentionally making themselves hated, it was regarded in its day as one of the militarily mightiest castles in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/27 "2015-09-12T23:49:53Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Spectacular! Made me think of [San Simeon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Castle) or [Cà d’Zan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A0_d%27Zan) which, I do think I read somewhere, was the basis for the castle of _Citizen Kane_ in the movie. . . . Yep! “Hearst’s Castle,” built by W.R. Hearst, of whom Charles Foster Kane was a fictionalized portrayal (or caricature, your choice.) In the actual movie, they used long shots of the [California Tower, in San Diego](http://cdn.sandiegouniontrib.com/img/photos/2015/07/17/balboa_park_ed_r900x493.jpg?122770e84b36f1c039d5c4c2ca15c2d8bc4ecd52), for Kane’s palatial estate, “Xanadu.” (This is kind of uppermost in my thoughts right now, as, just two hours ago, I took a tour that climbed up into the upper reaches of that tower! Whoo! Wonderful view!) ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/28 "2015-09-13T00:04:44Z")
I suppose Iolani Palace us the only dwelling in the US built for royalty. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/29 "2015-09-13T02:12:22Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > One of my favorites is the [Chateau de Coucy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Coucy). Deliberately dynamited by the Germans during the First World War as part of their misguided policy of intentionally making themselves hated, it was regarded in its day as one of the militarily mightiest castles in Europe. You can see a cutaway model of Coucy in all its glory [here](http://www.burgenkunde.de/Ausstellung%20Franzoesische%20Donjons/coucy/index_Coucy_Modell_eng.htm). And, [here](http://www.burgenkunde.de/Ausstellung%20Franzoesische%20Donjons/coucy/index_Coucy_Modell_eng.htm), a 3D animation of the donjon-keep (largest such in Europe), basement to battlements. _Je suis ni roi, ni prince aussi: Je suis le seigneur de Coucy!_ – [Enguerrand III](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enguerrand_III,_Lord_of_Coucy) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/30 "2015-09-13T02:14:55Z")
Before the Louvre Palace we know as an art museum, there was a [Louvre Castle](https://www.google.com/search?q=louvre+castle&biw=1470&bih=697&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CD4Q7AlqFQoTCLG6nI_48scCFcG2HgodZK8EDw) on the same site. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/31 "2015-09-13T03:36:31Z")
Love of castles aside, a Straight Doper is the kind of person who goes to the beach and builds sand star forts de Vauban. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/32 "2015-09-13T03:46:22Z")
Grin! So terribly, hilariously true! ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/33 "2015-09-13T09:47:02Z")
This one is neither the most spectacular, nor the best-preserved (it’s in ruins) but it has a very special place in my heart. Located about 15km from where I grew up, I must have visited it twenty times. It was one of the typical one-day trips that I’d do with my family when I was a kid. Lots of great memories from that place. [http://www.castles.nl/franchimont-castle](http://www.castles.nl/franchimont-castle) [https://www.google.fr/search?q=franchimont&biw=1600&bih=789&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAgQ\_AUoA2oVChMIlsnZydXzxwIVRlgaCh3PSQcy](https://www.google.fr/search?q=franchimont&biw=1600&bih=789&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAgQ_AUoA2oVChMIlsnZydXzxwIVRlgaCh3PSQcy) My father is a huge Middle Ages buff and we visited dozens of castles in Belgium, France and Germany when I was young. I thought it was a drag at the time but cherish these memories now. These visits opened my mind. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/34 "2015-09-13T11:35:18Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Around the end of each year, if I pass a display of calendars in a mall or bookstore, I like to look to see if there’s a Castles calendar. They always have a picture of Neuschwanstein, usually on the cover. I prefer [Pierrefonds](https://www.google.com/search?q=pierrefonds&biw=1470&bih=697&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCgQ7AlqFQoTCPX25t7088cCFYokHgodJl8Ofg) – at least it looks like it was designed with defense in mind. (Which it was; the present confection is a 19th-Century neo-Gothic fantasy like Neuschwanstein, but it is also an actual medieval fortress “restored” from ruins by Viollet-le-Duc, with more or less the original defensive features rebuilt.) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/35 "2015-09-13T13:27:40Z")
My favorite is the [Krak de Chevaliers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Crac_des_chevaliers_syria.jpeg)in Eastern Syria, greatest of all crusader forts. No soaring towers or ornamented crenelations here - this castle’s all business, projecting sheer \*strength \*better than any other building I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, the castle was damaged last year in the civil war, and it’s current state is unknown. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/36 "2015-09-13T14:45:43Z")
Not really the most attractive of buildings, but my SIL is something like 17th in line to inherit [Borthwick Castle](http://borthwickcastle.com/wp_site/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/DSC_73091.jpg) in Scotland. ---
**Author:** ![MickNickMaggies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@MickNickMaggies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MickNickMaggies)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/37 "2015-09-13T15:10:53Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Love of castles aside, a Straight Doper is the kind of person who goes to the beach and builds sand star forts de Vauban. I have seen so many Vauban things in the last five years it ain’t funny. On a happier note, will be seeing Carcassonne in the next several days 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/38 "2015-09-13T16:03:02Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Love of castles aside, a Straight Doper is the kind of person who goes to the beach and builds sand star forts de Vauban. [Deal Castle](https://www.google.com/search?q=deal+castle&biw=1470&bih=680&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CDcQsARqFQoTCLXT3O-w9McCFUFdHgodu-cETg) and [Pendennis Castle](https://www.google.com/search?q=pendennis+castle&biw=1470&bih=680&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CDcQsARqFQoTCMnt2ZKy9McCFUOZHgodPeAAhA) and other Henrician [device forts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Device_Forts) are of interest as an intermediate stage between the medieval castle and the star fort, an effort to adapt the original castellar defensive architecture to the age of gunpowder. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/39 "2015-09-13T16:09:15Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > You can see a cutaway model of Coucy in all its glory [here](http://www.burgenkunde.de/Ausstellung%20Franzoesische%20Donjons/coucy/index_Coucy_Modell_eng.htm). > > And, [here](http://www.burgenkunde.de/Ausstellung%20Franzoesische%20Donjons/coucy/index_Coucy_Modell_eng.htm), a 3D animation of the donjon-keep (largest such in Europe), basement to battlements. Sorry, the animation is [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLn1seefjZQ). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/40 "2015-09-13T16:11:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yeah, I expected to see Neuschwanstein as #1 on the list. In addition to making it onto every castle calendar ever, it’s probably also the #1 subject of jigsaw puzzles. > > Also not surprised to see Mt. St. Michel. Which is also a really effective castle. I’m surprised there aren’t more castles built on tidal islands: It makes invasion a lot harder, without significantly hindering peacetime access. I think I can answer this. What’s the point of a castle? To create a stronghold that would be difficult to conquer in a war. But why do you want a stronghold? The point of a stronghold is to have a safe place to quarter your troops and dominate an area. So you can build impenetrable castles on all sorts of tidal rocks and isolated mountain crags and desolate wastes, but those castles would be useless, since they don’t help you control valuable lands or trade routes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827.md?page=3)