Unusual and Spectacular Castles

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20.3999996185303px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"> <h1 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-size: 31px; letter-spacing: -2px; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 15px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;">Unusual and Spectacular Castles</span></span></h1> <div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Castles That Will Inspire and Haunt You </strong><br />Arguably born the day that villagers -- and the people who profited off them -- decided that wood wasn’t strong enough to keep them safe, castles quickly became more than just edifices dedicated to security. Instead of repelling borders, real or imaginary, castles became THE status symbol of status symbols. Monuments to bravado, they were stone and mortal proclamations to the age-old idea that "mine is bigger than yours."</span></span></div> <div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.funonthenet.in/articles/castles.html" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #444444;"><img align="middle" alt="Unusual and Spectacular Castles" border="0" class="" height="200" hspace="6" smartload="0" src="http://www.funonthenet.in/images/stories/forwards/castles.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 645px; opacity: 1; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; visibility: visible; zoom: 1;" title="Unusual and Spectacular Castles" width="600" /> </span></a></div> </div> <div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20.3999996185303px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Pierrefonds - picture-postcard example of a castle</strong><br /><br />If you want an picture-postcard example of a castle, you don’t have to go anywhere but the Château de Pierrefonds in France. Although it may have started out as a structure designed to keep some folks out and others safely in, it was later partially sugar frosted by none other than Napoleon the 3rd, who was shooting for a true nobility status symbol: a iced cake that no one but the very rich and very privileged could eat.<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrPzVLnSJI/AAAAAAAAh18/E1cUdg5NCNs/s640/4trwegsrgdfbdfb.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />Pierrefonds is still a beautiful place, even if its fortifications were overly gilded –- or maybe because of it. It’s no wonder it's used to this day when central casting gets a call for a classic castle.</span></span><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"> <img alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrPzi33X9I/AAAAAAAAh2I/fs2wrFl88VI/s640/467r5tujghkjmh.jpg" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #444444; height: auto; line-height: 20.3999996185303px; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /></div> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">When fairy tale jumps from a landscape and hits you between the eyes</strong><br /><br />If you want a real Disney, fairy-tale, and totally insane castle, you have to visit the residence of one totally insane German king, namely Ludwig II of Bavaria. Look up gaudy in the dictionary and there’s a picture of his castle: <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Neuschwanstein</strong>("The New Swan Rock").<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrSWhjjwtI/AAAAAAAAh6w/6473mYGNzpA/s640/ertyr6fjghmbnm.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrSW9wtFDI/AAAAAAAAh68/VYqt10GxQ6M/s640/45yethgfngvn.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Neuschwanstein Castle, gracing ten million over-saturated postcards and jigsaw puzzles, (image credits unknown)</span><br /><br />Glitzed and filigreed, Neuschwanstein is like Ludwig’s twisted brain turned inside out and realized in stone and brick. It is also sublime and splendid, over-the-top and strangely fragile - all at the same time. We are going to devote a special article to it, truly a place <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">not of this world</strong>.<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP4a8bDMI/AAAAAAAAh24/1LYlPYVdPBU/s800/4567uy56utyj.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />Monstrous chandelier? Check. Room made to look like a cavern? It’s there. Entire rooms dedicated to Wagner (with whom Ludwig was obsessed)? Absolutely. It’s all there, larger and more ornate than any life … unless, of course, you were the King of Bavaria.<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP5il_oiI/AAAAAAAAh3Q/-haom9Hj1nk/s640/467r6uygjghk.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br /><br /><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Coral Castle - Nobody knows how it was built</strong><br /><br />One of my favorite castles, though, wasn’t the dream of a king realized in stone and mortar. Spurned at the altar back in his native Latvia, Edward Leedskalnin took his disappointment, and a case of tuberculosis, to Florida in 1923. There, in the land of oranges and sunshine, Leedskalnin began to build his very own castle, one he worked on until his death in 1951<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP936uTVI/AAAAAAAAh5Y/gCSKYBUrw1w/s640/4567r6ufygjgh.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP86H1bBI/AAAAAAAAh5A/g4Kg3bDpR6g/s640/456765utyjghj.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />It’s still there and definitely worth seeing. It might not have the polish of Pierrefonds or the glimmer of Neuschwanstein, but Rock Gate Park, as he called it, is still a striking sight: monstrous slabs of coral skillfully balanced and beautifully positioned, all of them assembled without reinforcement or mortar. He spent over 28 years building the Coral Castle, refusing to allow anyone to view while he worked.<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP8qiaEpI/AAAAAAAAh40/zw76QV9ukTc/s640/4576ruyjghkhj.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />Leedskalnin’s construction genius is legendary. <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">No one quite understands how he built his castle and then moved it ten miles away in 1936.</strong> Some people think he used a kind of perpetual motion machine or mystical methods to move his several-ton blocks. Whatever the means, his Coral Castle, is still a magnificent achievement -– the sublime result of his own two hands, his incredible inventiveness, and a tragically broken heart.<br /><br /><br /><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Portmeirion: a surreal village in Gwynedd, Wales</strong><br /><br />Stepping away from literal castles, but staying within the theme of very special men and the homes they created, one of the most beautiful is one you might not know the name of but one you’d recognize immediately. All I need to write is "You are Number 6."<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP-f41bMI/AAAAAAAAh5w/v7MV_V88_Hc/s640/345yeyhfghgf.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />Located in Wales, Portmeirion was created by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis in 1925 (though some of it wasn’t finished until 1975). Although Sir Williams-Ellis wasn’t a king, he was obviously knighted, and certainly had help with his remarkable residence. Portmeirion deserves to stand with Ludwig’s vision of Germanic paradise and Leedskalnin’s eccentric coral castle because of its unique, and spectacularly beautiful, vision.<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP-2VKW-I/AAAAAAAAh58/LyF1u3igmTI/s640/e356urtjgnv.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />Williams-Ellis was so dedicated to preserving the tranquil elegance of Portmeirion that the filming location of Patrick McGoohan’s "The Prisoner" wasn’t revealed until the final episode of the series. Even with the careful hiding of the village’s identity, anyone who knew anything about architecture would have recognized the Williams-Ellis’s pearl-white cottages and the legendary green dome where, in "The Prisoner", the village’s rotating Number 2s had their office.<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP-IyMNiI/AAAAAAAAh5k/9Y0n1WnD1Zg/s640/56utrjygjghh.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />Portmeirion is truly a beautiful place and completely unspoiled by its television appearance. It remains today just as Williams-Ellis intended it to be: a tranquil village with a tasteful dusting of nostalgia.<br /><br /><br /><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Postman's Palace - another single-handedly built castle</strong><br /><br />Ferdinand Cheval has imagined his <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">"Ideal Palace"</strong> and simply went on to built it - after all, why not? He spent 33 years with this project (located in the village of Hauterives in the picturesque Drôme region of Southern France) - but the results are nothing less than stunning:<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP_DFAw2I/AAAAAAAAh6I/4PNGGGDLqHU/s640/456756ufygjghmhj.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP_bWSmWI/AAAAAAAAh6U/UH3WXbexNVo/s640/456756ugykjhkhj.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />Initially considered "the village idiot", he was suddenly hailed as a genius and a celebrity in France, upon completion of this intricate affair. But is it the "Ideal Palace"? Everyone seems to have a different opinion. More info and images are on this page.<br /><br />Whether it's the gussied-up fortresses like Pierrefonds, the gilded dreams of a mad king like Neuschwanstein, the eccentric genius of Leedskalnin and his Coral Castle, or the whimsical grace of Williams-Ellis’s Portmeirion and Ferdinand Cheval's Palace, a man’s home can really be his castle.<br /><br /><br /><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">More Fantastic Castles, to Visit and to Think About (Wistfully)</strong><br /><br />Eltz Castle, Germany: another fairy-tale location, this time completely surrounded (and in certain degree concealed) by the forest:<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP3zAu44I/AAAAAAAAh2g/gOMC5dotaaY/s640/357tuyjghkhj.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />Germany (just like Switzerland and Austria) has many enchanting castles, big and small -<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP4EtMxzI/AAAAAAAAh2s/cFNQI1SdN24/s640/3456e5hyufgjghkhj.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />The stretch of Rhein between Cologne and Mainz has the especially high concentration of great fortresses, presiding over the quaint riverside villages:<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP7oKD7hI/AAAAAAAAh4E/a7KJ3T4OZbI/s640/4567567uryjghkhj.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />Egeskov Castle, Denmark:<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh4.google.ca/abramsv/R6Ol_e9HoDI/AAAAAAAAF0w/VXEyEJSWyUw/s640/11_luchshie_foto.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />Eastern Europe abounds in awesome castles. This is for example, Castle in Moszna, Poland:<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP8DxMAEI/AAAAAAAAh4c/EYdJXm9cz3w/s640/45674uygkhjkhj.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />Check out the sinister door handle from the Dracula's Bran Castle on the bottom right. Towers emerging from the mist in the photo below: this is Bragança, a walled town in northern Portugal. Very evocative image on the bottom left is Le Chateau de Nyon in Nyon, Switzerland:<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP72jwbjI/AAAAAAAAh4Q/5Fb5T5S8dds/s800/345654ythjfjgh.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />The Chittorgarh Fort in India. This pool was often the only source of water during the numerous sieges by Mughal Emperors:<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP0M1gsuI/AAAAAAAAh2U/DzuUh6wAFY4/s640/m1gcnAlUqklXxSVLNz.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br /><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Nestled in High Places:</strong><br /><br />The way to the Guaita Fortress in San Marino (more info) -<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/R-q8-PXRgaI/AAAAAAAAMpA/t_4pBtQOHz4/s640/051_pics.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />Try not to think of "Myst" and "Riven" while looking at the above picture... Here is the high cliff on which the fortress stands:<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/R-21nPXRh-I/AAAAAAAAM3I/l29BDeIUL5c/s640/770px-Sanmarino5.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />Overlooking the Echaz Valley and the storybook village below, often shrouded in fog, Lichtenstein Castle comes close to being the perfect castle in Europe.<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP8ch56_I/AAAAAAAAh4o/k6KiyjCs9-8/s640/345654ytrjgkhj.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br /><br /><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Abandoned Castle in Rural Italy</strong><br /><br />Oh yes, still unclaimed by some luxury developer, nor touched by multi-million renovation... hiding in a valley in a tangled forest: <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Castello di Zena</strong>:<br />(here is a Google Earth location, but don't set your hopes too high - this is a guarded private property)<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP7GtM4KI/AAAAAAAAh34/u74fji42dfY/s640/454549099_091168c756_o.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br />A mystery. Falling to pieces. Splendor in the grass.<br /><br /><br /><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">A View That Launched 10,000 Epic Fantasy Books</strong><br /><br />Another feature of fortified high places is the splendid view they often afford. We'd like to open up a sort of competition:<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Best View From a Castle</strong>, but the winner already easily comes to mind - and it's the Neuschwanstein's Castle, again. The panorama of the towering Alps and a nestled gem of the lake, Alpsee, is enough to make you sigh and close your eyes... dreaming.<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP5AJMkhI/AAAAAAAAh3E/0gFWIilDkvY/s640/345654yrtjghkmj.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><br /><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">The ultimate castle, that was ever designed to grace the face of the Earth</strong><br /><br />King Ludwig, again. The planned Falkenstein - truly THE Lost Castle. The one that he was all set to build - but for the financial (and mental) meltdown he suffered.<br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: auto;"><img alt="" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/abramsv/R7vHm6oD5bI/AAAAAAAAI7A/lIwKB_psf9w/s640/2245194789_69015d50db_o.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; height: auto; margin: 10px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 645px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Christian Jank's first High Gothic design for Falkenstein, 1883.</span></span></span></div> </div>

Unusual and Spectacular Castles

Unusual and Spectacular Castles Castles That Will Inspire and Haunt You  Arguably born the day that villagers -- and the people who pro...

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