# 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:** 3
**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 13, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/41 "2015-09-13T16:21:50Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > 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. [Hohensalzburg](http://mostbeautifulplacesintheworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ursfsdl.jpg), in Salzburg, Austria, was built with that idea in mind. It’s an imposing medieval castle whose austerity is offset by the beautiful cathedrals at the base. Speaking of which, I’ve been in more cathedrals than the Pope. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/42 "2015-09-13T16:35:56Z")
It’s probably too late for a [Definition of Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle) to have much impact on what we as individuals think of when the word is used, but there it is for the curious. (There may be even more specific considerations used by experts and/or architects. So if you have a better definition please share.) Thanks to all who have expanded my awareness of the general subject and for some great links and pictures. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/43 "2015-09-13T16:57:59Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Here’s a [List of castles in the United States.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_castles_in_the_United_States) Any if them near you, or ones you may have visited? I’ve been to the last one on the list, Winnekenni Castle. It’s… a lot smaller than you’d expect a castle to be. And I believe we might have gone to Carey Mansion after The Breakers when we did a tour of the Newport RI mansions, but I’m not entirely sure. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/44 "2015-09-13T18:44:51Z")
I went to Bodiam Castle in 1970 … unfortunately, the moat was bone-dry!! As went to Chepstow Castle the same year. And Windsor Castle, too, come to think of it. There are some really cool castles in Ukraine. Unfortunately, I can’t remember their names, and all my photos of them are on another computer :smack: ---
**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, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/45 "2015-09-13T18:55:09Z")
> [@Atomic\_Mama](#): > > I went to Bodiam Castle in 1970 … unfortunately, the moat was bone-dry!! How could it be? [Bodiam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodiam_Castle) was built in a lake. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/46 "2015-09-13T18:59:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > […] [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. Pendennis is an awesome castle, with some really interesting history. They’ve got a mockup of a Tudor gun deck, and some WWII popup artillery pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/47 "2015-09-13T19:13:26Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > How could it be? [Bodiam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodiam_Castle) was built in a lake. The aerial picture on the wiki site does not show it built in the lake but quite a ways inland. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/48 "2015-09-14T19:36:07Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > My mother in law lives near [Conwy Castle](http://fav.me/d7yp3ea) (my own photo) in North Wales. There are a lot of castles up there, many in a good state of repair. I’ve been there! I loved seeing those Welsh castles that David Macaulay had written about and drawn. I have no clue where my picture have gone in 15-20 years . . . Guess we need to make another trip. 😃 Also if Disney based his palace design off an existing one I would think he used Neuschwanstein, it was in _Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang._ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/49 "2015-09-14T19:43:00Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > I’ve been there! I loved seeing those Welsh castles that David Macaulay had written about and drawn. Macaulay’s _Castle_ was the basis for this [PBS documentary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGbPShUpjpg) which he hosted; includes the animated story of the construction and siege of Aberwyvern, also covers real-life Welsh castles (or, rather, castles in Wales, mainly built by the conquering English) in general. > [@Gedd](#): > > Also if Disney based his palace design off an existing one I would think he used Neuschwanstein, it was in _Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang._ Among others, including the more authentically medieval (that is, a 15th-Century reconstruction of an earlier ruin) [Chateau d’Usse.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_d%27Uss%C3%A9) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/50 "2015-09-14T19:44:11Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > The aerial picture on the wiki site does not show it built in the lake but quite a ways inland. Well, it’s a lake-sized moat; hard to imagine it going dry. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/51 "2015-09-14T20:39:55Z")
Always had a thing for Minas Tirith, from _The Lord of the Rings_. [![](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Viiu1tFDArg/maxresdefault.jpg) ](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Viiu1tFDArg/maxresdefault.jpg) [![](http://www.thelandofshadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/MinasTirithBig.jpg) ](http://www.thelandofshadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/MinasTirithBig.jpg) [![](https://www.madrid.ventures/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Minas-Tirith-en-la-Pedriza.jpg) ](https://www.madrid.ventures/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Minas-Tirith-en-la-Pedriza.jpg) [http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/14/148979/3832952-3169163721-Minas.jpg](http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/14/148979/3832952-3169163721-Minas.jpg) [![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aEwPsvnkjss/USz7QKUUz-I/AAAAAAAAAso/KvQ3d5qzvcE/s1600/MinasTirithCourtyard.png) ](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aEwPsvnkjss/USz7QKUUz-I/AAAAAAAAAso/KvQ3d5qzvcE/s1600/MinasTirithCourtyard.png) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/52 "2015-09-14T21:24:09Z")
The [Calendar Gallery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%C3%A8s_Riches_Heures_du_Duc_de_Berry#Calendar_Gallery) of the medieval illuminated manuscript _Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry_ pictures several contemporary French castles, most of which still exist (the Louvre Palace, in castle-form, does not). [Chateau de Saumur](https://www.google.com/search?q=chateau+de+saumur&biw=1138&bih=673&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CCsQsARqFQoTCI7Vz9m698cCFYGSHgodkjMM0g&dpr=0.94), in particular, is one of those “Now **that’s** a castle!” castles. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/53 "2015-09-14T21:34:17Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Always had a thing for Minas Tirith, from _The Lord of the Rings_. > > [http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Viiu1tFDArg/maxresdefault.jpg](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Viiu1tFDArg/maxresdefault.jpg) > [http://www.thelandofshadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/MinasTirithBig.jpg](http://www.thelandofshadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/MinasTirithBig.jpg) > [https://www.madrid.ventures/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Minas-Tirith-en-la-Pedriza.jpg](https://www.madrid.ventures/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Minas-Tirith-en-la-Pedriza.jpg) > [http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/14/148979/3832952-3169163721-Minas.jpg](http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/14/148979/3832952-3169163721-Minas.jpg) > [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aEwPsvnkjss/USz7QKUUz-I/AAAAAAAAAso/KvQ3d5qzvcE/s1600/MinasTirithCourtyard.png](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aEwPsvnkjss/USz7QKUUz-I/AAAAAAAAAso/KvQ3d5qzvcE/s1600/MinasTirithCourtyard.png) Of course, that’s a fortified city, not quite the same thing as a castle (though the fortifications might include a castle, as at [Carcasonne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cit%C3%A9_de_Carcassonne)). ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/54 "2015-09-14T22:00:05Z")
> [@Atomic\_Mama](#): > > I went to Bodiam Castle in 1970 … unfortunately, the moat was bone-dry!! [QUOTE=BrainGlutton] How could it be? Bodiam was built in a lake. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Well, it’s a lake-sized moat; hard to imagine it going dry. [/QUOTE] The moat was deliberately drained in 1970 to allow archaeologists to excavate it. What’s more, one of the major conclusions that the archaeologists then came to was that it would have been very easy for any attackers to have done likewise, so it may have been mostly for show anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/55 "2015-09-15T13:11:09Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Macaulay’s _Castle_ was the basis for this [PBS documentary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGbPShUpjpg) which he hosted; includes the animated story of the construction and siege of Aberwyvern, also covers real-life Welsh castles (or, rather, castles in Wales, mainly built by the conquering English) in general. > [snip] 😃 Where do you think I learned about the book? But finding it on YouTube!? I know what my kids and I are doing this weekend!!! Thanks **BrainGlutton**! ---
**Author:** ![toast\_pakora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/56 "2015-09-15T15:08:12Z")
I had a poster of Neuschwanstein on my bedroom wall growing up so I was eager to visit when I went to Europe. Welp, to this jaded backpacker (I’d been hitching around for three months at that point), the setting was definitely a let-down. Viewing it from the town below, it was built on top of a hill but with other hills/mountains/whatever towering over it. It just looked very…reduced. Those overhead photos on all the calendars are using some judicious viewpoints. My favorite is the [Chateau de Tarascon](http://chateau.tarascon.fr), between Arles and Nimes, 1401-1449. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/57 "2015-09-15T17:29:24Z")
[Warwick Castle](http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/castles/warwick.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/58 "2015-09-15T20:06:30Z")
A couple of years ago my wife and I did what was described as an ABC tour - “Another Bloody Castle”. Spent ten days driving from Cornwall up to Scotland, saw something like 28 castles - from tiny little castles in the middle of small villages, to some large palaces built to impress Queen Elizabeth in case she wandered by (Kenilworth), up to Urquhart castle on Loch Ness. Favorite pictures were of the castles in Wales (including Caernarfon, Beaumaris, and Conwy) - these were serious castles meant to remind the locals just who was in charge here (Edward I, and don’t you forget it). Military forts, not palaces. Imposing as hell. They also were not “slighted” (partially destroyed) in the English Civil War like many of the castles in England: [Caernofon Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caernarfon_Castle#/media/File:Caernarfon_Castle_1994.jpg) [Beaumaris Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumaris_Castle#/media/File:Beaumaris_aerial.jpg) [Conwy Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conwy_Castle#/media/File:Conwy_Castle_and_car_park_from_Town_Walls_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1723358.jpg) My favorite castle of all was Doune Castle in Scotland - AKA Castle Anthrax, Swamp Castle, and Camelot. This was where most castle scenes in Monty Python and the Holy Grail were filmed. Great audio tour narrated by Terry Jones, plus the gift shop had coconuts you could borrow for the duration of your visit. In a couple of weeks I will be visiting Neuschwanstein. I expect to be disappointed on some level, since Neuschwanstein is basically a 19th century palace built in a medieval castle style - not a “real” castle at all. Most of it was designed by a stage designer… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/59 "2015-09-15T20:11:09Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > A couple of years ago my wife and I did what was described as an ABC tour - “Another Bloody Castle”. Spent ten days driving from Cornwall up to Scotland, saw something like 28 castles - from tiny little castles in the middle of small villages, to some large palaces built to impress Queen Elizabeth in case she wandered by (Kenilworth), up to Urquhart castle on Loch Ness. Favorite pictures were of the castles in Wales (including Caernarfon, Beaumaris, and Conwy) - these were serious castles meant to remind the locals just who was in charge here (Edward I, and don’t you forget it). Military forts, not palaces. Imposing as hell. They also were not “slighted” (partially destroyed) in the English Civil War like many of the castles in England: > > [Caernofon Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caernarfon_Castle#/media/File:Caernarfon_Castle_1994.jpg) > [Beaumaris Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumaris_Castle#/media/File:Beaumaris_aerial.jpg) > [Conwy Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conwy_Castle#/media/File:Conwy_Castle_and_car_park_from_Town_Walls_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1723358.jpg) Beaumaris was never slighted because it was never finished; the funding ran out. Too bad, because the design represents the epitome and perfection of Edwardian concentric-castle architecture. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827/60 "2015-09-15T20:23:28Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > This was where most castle scenes in Monty Python and the Holy Grail were filmed. Great audio tour narrated by Terry Jones, plus the gift shop had coconuts you could borrow for the duration of your visit. The coconut thing is such a simple, yet genius, idea. I think everyone who visits Doune Castle mentions it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-castles/730827.md?page=4)