Whether you’re still a kid or just a kid at heart, castles stoke our imaginations. Castles are where damsels in distress were saved by dashing knights who arrived just in the nick of time, where wise and gentle kings ruled with a kind but firm hand, where dragons were slayed after trying to kidnap the virtuous and beautiful princess…wait, dragons?
Part of what makes castles so fascinating to American eyes is the fact that we have so few here in the States. Our country was founded at a time when gunpowder had become the dominant force on the battlefield, so it made little sense to build castles in a young Americas—after all, by the late 18th century, Europeans had long recognized that a castle’s stone walls were no match for a cannon. Because castles are primarily an Old World phenomenon, we Americans can dress them up with whatever imagery we like; in our imaginations, castles can serve either good or evil, from the dingy, sinister dwelling of Dracula to King Arthur’s shining court of Camelot.
The truth about castles is, of course, quite a bit more complex than storybooks and Disney movies would have us believe. Every European castle has its own story filled with eccentric characters and exciting tales. In fact, castles can serve as a microcosm for much of Europe’s history, and walking through a castle is the best way to understand what life was like in a bygone era. Today, we’ll look at five of our favorite European castles and take a quick tour through the stories that still live within their stony walls.
Windsor Castle glows in the light of an English sunset.
1. Windsor Castle
Most of Europe’s castles are relics of the past, maintained as museums for curious modern eyes. Not England’s Windsor Castle. First built by William the Conqueror in 1070, Windsor Castle has always been the home of the British monarch, but it didn’t gain its signature stone round tower until Henry II rebuilt William’s structure nearly a century later. In 1350, Edward III embarked on a quarter-century-long effort to modernize the castle and transform it into a national redoubt, a status the castle has never relinquished. But the castle wasn’t always home to royalty; following the ascension of Oliver Cromwell and the proclamation of the Commonwealth of England, peasants squatted in the castle as Cromwell’s New Model Army used it as a headquarters and allowed soldiers to plunder its treasures at will. As England grew into a world power whose first line of defense was at sea, Windsor Castle became less important as a defensive structure, so its inhabitants began to treat it more like a palace and less like a fort. But when World War II broke out, Windsor Castle was once more called upon to shelter the British monarchy and to serve as a rallying point for a nation in crisis. Today, Windsor is still the home of the British Royal Family, with Queen Elizabeth II working to transform the castle into a public museum. For travelers looking to tour a thousand years of British history, you could do worse than spending a day wandering through Windsor.
Eilean Donan Castle, with the Scottish Highlands in the background.
2. Eilean Donan Castle
While Windsor Castle transitioned gracefully from pragmatic fortress to elegant palace, a castle far to the north stuck to its martial roots. Constructed in the early 13th century to protect Loch Duice and Loch Long from seaborne Viking raids, Eilean Donan Castle stands on a small island off Scotland’s west coast, at the confluence of the two lochs and their shared opening to the Sound of Sleat and the ocean beyond. For three hundred years, Eilean Donan Castle ruled its section of the Scottish coast, with renovations occurring periodically in response to evolving military technology. Then, in 1688, England underwent the Glorious Revolution, which saw the Catholic James II lose his throne to the Protestant William and Mary. King James’ supporters were known as Jacobites (from the name Jacobus, the Latin form of James), and they searched far and wide for an ally to help them return James and the House of Stuart to the English throne. In April 1719, Spanish troops landed at Eilean Donan and occupied the castle, intending to foment and aid a Jacobite rebellion. But the Scottish clans did not rise up to support the Spaniards in the castle, and the Royal Navy dispatched five ships to retake the castle. The English bombarded the castle, but its 14-foot-thick stone walls shrugged off the Royal Navy’s cannonballs. But when English landing parties came ashore, the outnumbered Spanish defenders surrendered, leaving Eilean Donan Castle to the mercies of its conquerors. The English set out to destroy the castle, using the Spaniards’ captured gunpowder to destroy Eilean Donan Castle; the English went through 27 barrels of gunpowder, but they were unable to raze the castle. Satisfied with their work, the English left, and the ruins of Eilean Donan Castle sat untended for nearly 200 years. Then, in 1911, Lt. Col. John Macrae-Gilstrap bought the island of Eilean Donan and dedicated the next two decades to restoring the castle. Today, Eilean Donan Castle is one of the most photographed structures in Scotland and a popular venue for both weddings and feature film shoots.
Chateau de Chambord is the largest castle in France's Loire Valley.
3. Chateau de Chambord
When you think of a French castle, you probably picture something like Chateau de Chambord. Though there are plenty of fortress-like castles in France, we Americans tend to imagine French castles as enormous private homes, with clean white walls topped by an ornate grey roofline and surrounded by manicured lawns and topiary sculptures. Chateau de Chambord was built in the 16th century, when gunpowder began to come into widespread use in Europe’s armies. The castles of this time period did indeed serve as family estates and symbols of power, so they retained some of the features of defensive castles, but these features were largely for show. Chateau de Chambord was never intended to withstand a siege; rather, King Francis I ordered it built so that he could enjoy time with his mistress in an appropriately regal setting (his mistress’s family’s estate was next door). Chateau de Chambord features a moat, a central keep and corner towers, all of which first came into vogue as defensive structures—but inside, Francis I lined the chateau’s walls with fine art, ordered sculptures inlaid into its ceilings and decorated with the splashy indulgence of France’s Valois monarchs. For the exterior, Francois ordered his architects to design Chateau de Chambord’s roof to mimic Constantinople’s skyline. Who those architects were is a matter of historical debate, with some historians advancing claims that even Leonardo da Vinci contributed to Chateau de Chambord’s unique blend of French Renaissance and Italian classical architecture. Whoever designed this castle, Chateau de Chambord has become a symbol of the wealth and power of the French monarchs.
Prague Castle atop Hradcany, as seen from the Vltava River. The spires at left are part of St. Vitus Cathedral.
4. Prague Castle
The city of Prague grew along a bend in the Vltava River. Just west of the bend in the river, a hill rises above the surrounding flood plain. In Czech, this hill is known as Hradcany—”castle hill” in English—and here, the Holy Roman Empire reached the zenith of its power. In 870, a small church was erected on top of the hill; this church was followed by the Basilica of St. George and the Basilica of St. Vitus, the house of worship that became today’s Gothic St. Vitus Cathedral. Unlike the other castles on our list, Prague Castle didn’t start out as a fort, but by the time Charles IV became Holy Roman Emperor in the 14th century, Hradcany’s strategic position had become apparent. Charles IV ordered both a new palace in the trendy Gothic style and a stout wall to be built atop Hradcany. For the next three hundred years, Holy Roman Emperors and later Habsburg kings and queens would add to the sprawling castle complex, leading to the complex jumble of architectural styles visitors can see today. When the First Czech Republic was proclaimed in the wake of World War I, the new government moved into the ancient castle complex; later, during the tumult of the Cold War’s Prague Spring, pro-democracy protesters attempted to install Alexander Dubcek on Prague Castle’s throne. Today, Prague Castle is recognized as the world’s largest castle complex, covering more than 17 acres of Hradcany and containing the spiritual center of Czech religious and political life. Like many of Europe’s castles, Prague Castle plays host to some eerie stories. An old Czech legend prophesied that if an illegitimate usurper to the Czech throne ever placed the Czech crown on his head, he would die within the year; during World War II, the Nazi Reinhard Heydrich, “the Butcher of Prague,” was appointed viceroy of Czechoslovakia, and while at Prague Castle, he dared to wear the Czech crown. Within a year, a team of British-trained Czech commandos would mount an assassination attempt in occupied Prague. Heydrich appeared to survive the attack, but a week later, he entered a coma from which he never awoke. The episode gave the downtrodden Czechs a reason to hope for better days, a hope that would be vindicated three years later by the Allied victory in Europe.
Mad King Ludwig's Neuschwanstein was designed to evoke a romantic vision of Bavaria.
5. Neuschwanstein
If you’ve been to the castle in California’s Disneyland, Neuschwanstein probably looks familiar. Perched on a rugged outcrop more than 2,000 feet above sea level, Neuschwanstein is the brain-child of “Mad” King Ludwig II of Bavaria (in German, he’s still referred to as der Marchenkonig, “the Fairytale King”). Ludwig was enamored with—some might say obsessed by—the muscular romanticism of Richard Wagner’s operas, and he said as much in a letter to Wagner after he’d commissioned the construction of Neuschwanstein: “It is my intention to rebuild the old castle ruin of Hohenschwangau near the Pöllat Gorge in the authentic style of the old German knights’ castles, and I must confess to you that I am looking forward very much to living there one day…It will also remind you of [Wagner's operas] Tannhäuser [and] Lohengrin.” Despite having no formal training as an architect, Ludwig demanded the right to personally approve of the castle’s construction plans, an arrangement that led to the castle remaining incomplete at the time of Ludwig’s death in 1886. The bulk of the castle’s design fell to stage designer Christian Jank, and Neuschwanstein certainly evokes the passion and romance of an opera. Jank’s extravagant designs and the less-than-reasonable demands of Ludwig led to enormous budget overruns, deficits so deep that Ludwig’s creditors threatened to seize his castles across Germany as collateral. But what Neuschwanstein lacks in practicality, it makes up in beauty and whimsy. Today, Neuschwanstein’s Romanesque Revival facade is one of the enduring symbols of Bavaria and a beloved museum for both Germans and foreign travelers alike.
Europe’s long history has left us a rich legacy of castles across the continent—which one is your favorite?
