List of Famous Castles - Most Popular Castles
Among tens of thousands of castles that were created across the world in the last one thousand years, some managed to distinguish themselves by their construction style, location, use, architecture, and involvement in various historical events. Here you can learn more about many of them.
Alnwick Castle
Famous English castle Alnwick plays an important role in the history of that country, medieval Europe and the entire history of castle construction. Read more about its construction, evolution, military sieges it was a part of and the way it survived to modern times.
Burg Eltz
Burg Eltz is one of the best preserved European castles that had a purpose of housing several noble families from central Germany. Built for comfort and exclusivity, this castle is today one of the major tourist attractions from Germany. Read more about its history here.
Château de Chenonceau
Château de Chenonceau is one of the most modern Renaissance castles in France, managing to attract 1.3 million visitors each year (second only to Palace of Versailles in Paris). This incredibly beautiful castle was in the center of the French national history ever since it was created, and here you can read all about it.
Cité de Carcassonne
Cité de Carcassonne is a castle that had function to not only provide protection to the large military garrison which had access to impressive suite of defensive buildings, but also to provide protection to the entire city of Carcassonn. With its 52 towers and 3km of walls, Cité de Carcassonne represents one of the most celebrated castles in the France.
Conwy Castle
Conwy Castle is today viewed as one of the crowning achievements of medieval castle building technology, managing to engulf entire city inside of its massive walls and preserve for over 700 years and several disasters. Read here about its interesting history.
Heidelberg Castle
Heidelberg Castle is today considered by historians and architects as one of the most influential castles of the 13th and 14th century Europe. It guided fashion, architecture and engineering for centuries to come, becoming important focus point of countless artists from all around Europe and the World. Learn more about this castle here.
Highclere Castle
Highclere Castle is one of the most famous English country houses that started it life as a medieval castle which was later on retrofitted to serve as a palace. Its road through history was long and eventful, and here you can read all about it.
Leeds Castle
Leeds castle is one of the most famous castles built in the 12th century, and was a home of some of the most important historical events in the history of England. If you are interested to learn much more about its origins, history, owners and the upgrades it receives during centuries, this is the perfect place to do so.
Lichtenstein Castle
Lichtenstein Castle is one of the most scenic and beautiful castles in Germany. Created on top of the hill cliff that hosted several medieval castles, this modern work of art was built in the mid-18th century by Duke Wilhelm of Urach and famous architect Carl Alexander Heideloff.
Neuschwanstein Castle
You can’t find more iconic “medieval” castle than Neuschwanstein, created in the late 19th century with the specific goal to emulate romanticized architecture of Renaissance castles. Learn more about this highly influential castle here.
Tower of London
Tower of London is one of the most famous castles of all time. Created during Norman Conquest of England, this military outpost in London was quickly redesigned to be a royal residence, and went through turbulent history that marked it as one of the most notorious castles in England. Find out more about its history here.
Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle is one of the castles created during Norman invasions of England that managed to distinguish itself by quickly becoming the center of the attention of the English nobility and royalty, who rebuilt it several times and crafted it into one of the most popular castles of medieval and modern England.
Windsor Castle
Quickly after its construction on the ancient location that was utilized for defensive purposes by both Celts and Romans, Windsor Castle became one of the most favorite residences of the English crown. With such attention, castle Windsor received numerous upgrades and fashion renovations during its long life.
