You write about the baron in the castle - if you please, at least roughly imagine how the castle was heated, how it was ventilated, how it was lit ...
From an interview with G. L. Oldie

At the word "castle" in our imagination there is an image of a majestic fortress - the calling card of the fantasy genre. There is hardly any other architectural structure that would attract so much attention from historians, experts in military affairs, tourists, writers and fans of “fabulous” fantasy.

We play computer, board and role-playing games where we have to explore, build or capture impregnable castles. But do we know what these fortifications really are? What interesting stories are associated with them? What are the stone walls hiding behind them - witnesses of entire eras, grandiose battles, knightly nobility and vile betrayal?

Surprisingly, it is a fact - the fortified dwellings of feudal lords in different parts of the world (Japan, Asia, Europe) were built according to very similar principles and had many common design features. But in this article, we will primarily focus on medieval European feudal fortresses, since it was they that served as the basis for creating a mass artistic image of the “medieval castle” as a whole.

The birth of a fortress

The Middle Ages in Europe was a turbulent time. The feudal lords, for any reason, arranged small wars among themselves - or rather, not even wars, but, in modern terms, armed “showdowns”. If a neighbor had money, they had to be taken away. Lots of land and peasants? It's just indecent, because God ordered to share. And if knightly honor is hurt, then here it was simply impossible to do without a small victorious war.

Under such circumstances, the large aristocratic landowners had no choice but to strengthen their dwellings with the expectation that one fine day their neighbors might come to visit them, whom you don’t feed with bread - let someone slaughter.

Initially, these fortifications were made of wood and did not resemble the castles known to us in any way - except that a moat was dug in front of the entrance and a wooden palisade was erected around the house.

The lordly courts of Hasterknaup and Elmendorv are the ancestors of castles.

However, progress did not stand still - with the development of military affairs, the feudal lords had to modernize their fortifications so that they could withstand a massive assault using stone cannonballs and rams.

The European castle has its roots in the era of antiquity. The earliest structures of this kind copied the Roman military camps (tents surrounded by a palisade). It is generally accepted that the tradition of building gigantic (by the standards of that time) stone structures began with the Normans, and classical castles appeared in the 12th century.

The besieged castle of Mortan (withstood the siege for 6 months).

Very simple requirements were imposed on the castle - it must be inaccessible to the enemy, provide observation of the area (including the nearest villages belonging to the owner of the castle), have its own water source (in case of a siege) and perform representative functions - that is, show the power, wealth of the feudal lord.

Beaumarie Castle, owned by Edward I.

Welcome

We are on our way to the castle, which stands on a ledge of a mountain slope, on the edge of a fertile valley. The road goes through a small settlement - one of those that usually grew up near the fortress wall. Common people live here - mostly artisans, and warriors guarding the outer perimeter of protection (in particular, guarding our road). This is the so-called "castle people".

Scheme of castle structures. Note - two gate towers, the largest stands separately.

The road is laid in such a way that the aliens always face the castle with their right side, not covered by a shield. Directly in front of the fortress wall there is a bare plateau, lying under a significant slope (the castle itself stands on a hill - natural or bulk). The vegetation here is low, so that there is no shelter for the attackers.

The first barrier is a deep ditch, and in front of it is a rampart of excavated earth. The moat can be transverse (separates the castle wall from the plateau), or sickle-shaped, curved forward. If the landscape allows, the moat encircles the entire castle in a circle.

Sometimes dividing ditches were dug inside the castle, making it difficult for the enemy to move through its territory.

The shape of the bottom of the ditches could be V-shaped and U-shaped (the latter is the most common). If the soil under the castle is rocky, then ditches were either not made at all, or they were cut down to a shallow depth, which only hindered the advancement of infantry (it is almost impossible to dig under the castle wall in the rock - therefore, the depth of the moat was not decisive).

The crest of an earthen rampart lying directly in front of the moat (which makes it seem even deeper) often carried a palisade - a fence of wooden stakes dug into the ground, pointed and tightly fitted to each other.

A bridge over the moat leads to the outer wall of the castle. Depending on the size of the moat and bridge, the latter supports one or more supports (huge logs). The outer part of the bridge is fixed, but its last segment (right next to the wall) is movable.

Scheme of the entrance to the castle: 2 - gallery on the wall, 3 - drawbridge, 4 - lattice.

Counterweights on the gate lift.

Castle gate.

This drawbridge is designed so that in a vertical position it closes the gate. The bridge is powered by mechanisms hidden in the building above them. From the bridge to the lifting machines, ropes or chains go into the wall holes. To facilitate the work of people servicing the bridge mechanism, the ropes were sometimes equipped with heavy counterweights that took part of the weight of this structure onto themselves.

Of particular interest is the bridge, which worked on the principle of a swing (it is called “overturning” or “swinging”). One half of it was inside - lying on the ground under the gate, and the other stretched across the moat. When the inner part rose, closing the entrance to the castle, the outer part (to which the attackers sometimes managed to run) fell down into the moat, where the so-called “wolf pit” was arranged (sharp stakes dug into the ground), invisible from the side, until the bridge is down.

To enter the castle with the gates closed, there was a side gate next to them, to which a separate lifting ladder was usually laid.

Gates - the most vulnerable part of the castle, were usually made not directly in its wall, but were arranged in the so-called "gate towers". Most often, the gates were double-leaf, and the wings were knocked together from two layers of boards. To protect against arson, they were upholstered with iron on the outside. At the same time, in one of the wings there was a small narrow door, which could be entered only by bending over. In addition to locks and iron bolts, the gate was closed by a transverse beam lying in the wall channel and sliding into the opposite wall. The transverse beam could also be wound into hook-shaped slots on the walls. Its main purpose was to protect the gate from their landing attackers.

Behind the gate was usually a drop-down portcullis. Most often it was wooden, with iron-bound lower ends. But there were also iron gratings made of steel tetrahedral rods. The lattice could descend from a gap in the vault of the gate portal, or be behind them (on the inside of the gate tower), descending along the grooves in the walls.

The grate hung on ropes or chains, which, in case of danger, could be cut off so that it quickly fell down, blocking the way for the invaders.

Inside the gate tower there were rooms for guards. They kept watch on the upper platform of the tower, asked the guests for the purpose of their visit, opened the gates, and, if necessary, could hit all those who passed under them with a bow. For this purpose, there were vertical loopholes in the vault of the gate portal, as well as “tar noses” - holes for pouring hot resin on the attackers.

Resin noses.

All on the wall!

The most important defensive element of the castle was the outer wall - high, thick, sometimes on an inclined plinth. Worked stones or bricks made up its outer surface. Inside, it consisted of rubble stone and slaked lime. The walls were placed on a deep foundation, under which it was very difficult to dig.

Often double walls were built in castles - a high outer and a small inner one. An empty space appeared between them, which received the German name “zwinger”. The attackers, overcoming the outer wall, could not take with them additional assault devices (bulky ladders, poles and other things that cannot be moved inside the fortress). Once in the zwinger in front of another wall, they became an easy target (there were small loopholes for archers in the walls of the zwinger).

Zwinger at Laneck Castle.

On top of the wall was a gallery for defense soldiers. From the outside of the castle, they were protected by a solid parapet, half the height of a man, on which stone battlements were regularly arranged. Behind them it was possible to stand at full height and, for example, load a crossbow. The shape of the teeth was extremely diverse - rectangular, rounded, in the form of a dovetail, decoratively decorated. In some castles, the galleries were covered (wooden canopy) to protect the warriors from bad weather.

In addition to the battlements, behind which it was convenient to hide, the walls of the castle were equipped with loopholes. The attackers were firing through them. Due to the peculiarities of the use of throwing weapons (freedom of movement and a certain shooting position), the loopholes for archers were long and narrow, and for crossbowmen - short, with expansion on the sides.

A special type of loophole - ball. It was a freely rotating wooden ball fixed in the wall with a slot for firing.

Pedestrian gallery on the wall.

Balconies (the so-called “mashikuli”) were arranged in the walls very rarely - for example, in the case when the wall was too narrow for the free passage of several soldiers, and, as a rule, performed only decorative functions.

At the corners of the castle, small towers were built on the walls, most often flanking (that is, protruding outward), which allowed the defenders to fire along the walls in two directions. In the late Middle Ages, they began to adapt to storage. The inner sides of such towers (facing the courtyard of the castle) were usually left open so that the enemy who broke into the wall could not gain a foothold inside them.

Flanking corner tower.

The castle from the inside

The internal structure of the castles was diverse. In addition to the mentioned zwingers, behind the main gate there could be a small rectangular courtyard with loopholes in the walls - a kind of “trap” for the attackers. Sometimes castles consisted of several "sections" separated by internal walls. But an indispensable attribute of the castle was a large courtyard (outbuildings, a well, premises for servants) and a central tower, also known as a donjon.

Donjon at the Château de Vincennes.

The life of all the inhabitants of the castle directly depended on the presence and location of the well. Problems often arose with him - after all, as mentioned above, castles were built on hills. Solid rocky soil also did not make it easier to supply the fortress with water. There are known cases of laying castle wells to a depth of more than 100 meters (for example, the Kuffhäuser castle in Thuringia or the Königstein fortress in Saxony had wells more than 140 meters deep). Digging a well took from one to five years. In some cases, this consumed as much money as all the interior buildings of the castle were worth.

Due to the fact that water had to be obtained with difficulty from deep wells, personal hygiene and sanitation issues faded into the background. Instead of washing themselves, people preferred to take care of animals - first of all, expensive horses. There is nothing surprising in the fact that the townspeople and villagers wrinkled their noses in the presence of the inhabitants of the castles.

The location of the water source depended primarily on natural causes. But if there was a choice, then the well was dug not in the square, but in a fortified room in order to provide it with water in case of shelter during the siege. If, due to the peculiarities of the occurrence of groundwater, a well was dug behind the castle wall, then a well was built above it. stone tower(if possible - with wooden passages to the castle).

When there was no way to dig a well, a cistern was built in the castle to collect rainwater from the roofs. Such water needed to be purified - it was filtered through gravel.

The combat garrison of castles in peacetime was minimal. So in 1425, two co-owners of the Reichelsberg castle in the Lower Franconian Aub entered into an agreement that each of them exposes one armed servant, and two gatekeepers and two guards are paid jointly.

The castle also had a number of buildings that ensured the autonomous life of its inhabitants in conditions of complete isolation (blockade): a bakery, a steam bath, a kitchen, etc.

Kitchen at Marksburg Castle.

The tower was the tallest structure in the entire castle. It provided the opportunity to observe the surroundings and served as a last refuge. When the enemies broke through all the lines of defense, the population of the castle took refuge in the donjon and withstood a long siege.

The exceptional thickness of the walls of this tower made its destruction almost impossible (in any case, it would take a huge amount of time). The entrance to the tower was very narrow. It was located in the courtyard at a significant (6-12 meters) height. The wooden staircase leading inside could easily be destroyed and thus block the way for the attackers.

Donjon entrance.

Inside the tower there was sometimes a very high shaft going from top to bottom. It served as either a prison or a warehouse. The entrance to it was possible only through a hole in the vault of the upper floor - “Angstloch” (in German - a frightening hole). Depending on the purpose of the mine, the winch lowered prisoners or provisions there.

If there were no prison facilities in the castle, then the prisoners were placed in large wooden boxes made of thick boards, too small to stand up to their full height. These boxes could be installed in any room of the castle.

Of course, they were taken prisoner, first of all, for a ransom or for using a prisoner in a political game. Therefore, VIPs were provided for upper class- guarded chambers in the tower were allocated for their maintenance. This is how Friedrich the Handsome spent his time in the Trausnitz castle on Pfaimd and Richard the Lionheart in Trifels.

Chamber in Marksburg Castle.

Abenberg castle tower (12th century) in section.

At the base of the tower there was a cellar, which could also be used as a dungeon, and a kitchen with a pantry. The main hall (dining room, common room) occupied an entire floor and was heated by a huge fireplace (it spread heat only a few meters, so that iron baskets with coals were placed further along the hall). Above were the chambers of the feudal lord's family, heated by small stoves.

At the very top of the tower there was an open (rarely covered, but if necessary, the roof could be dropped) platform where a catapult or other throwing weapon could be installed to fire at the enemy. The standard (banner) of the owner of the castle was also hoisted there.

Sometimes the donjon did not serve as living quarters. It could well be used only for military and economic purposes (observation posts on the tower, dungeon, provisions storage). In such cases, the feudal lord's family lived in the "palace" - the living quarters of the castle, standing apart from the tower. The palaces were built of stone and had several floors in height.

It should be noted that the living conditions in the castles were far from the most pleasant. Only the largest carpets had a large knight's hall for celebrations. It was very cold in the donjons and carpets. Fireplace heating helped out, but the walls were still covered with thick tapestries and carpets - not for decoration, but to keep warm.

The windows let in very little sunlight (the fortification character of the castle architecture affected), not all of them were glazed. Toilets were arranged in the form of a bay window in the wall. They were unheated, so visiting the outhouse in winter left people with simply unique sensations.

Castle toilet.

Concluding our “tour” around the castle, one cannot fail to mention that it always had a room for worship (temple, chapel). Among the indispensable inhabitants of the castle was a chaplain or priest, who, in addition to his main duties, played the role of a clerk and teacher. In the most modest fortresses, the role of the temple was performed by a wall niche, where a small altar stood.

Large temples had two floors. The common people prayed below, and the gentlemen gathered in the warm (sometimes glazed) choir on the second tier. The decoration of such premises was rather modest - an altar, benches and wall paintings. Sometimes the temple played the role of a tomb for the family living in the castle. Less commonly, it was used as a shelter (along with a donjon).

Many tales are told about underground passages in castles. There were moves, of course. But only very few of them led from the castle somewhere into the neighboring forest and could be used as an escape route. As a rule, there were no long moves at all. Most often there were short tunnels between individual buildings, or from the donjon to the complex of caves under the castle (additional shelter, warehouse or treasury).

War on earth and underground

Contrary to popular misconceptions, the average strength of the military garrison of an ordinary castle during active hostilities rarely exceeded 30 people. This was quite enough for defense, since the inhabitants of the fortress were in relative safety behind its walls and did not suffer such losses as the attackers.

To take the castle, it was necessary to isolate it - that is, to block all the ways of supplying food. That is why the attacking armies were much larger than the defending ones - about 150 people (this is true for the war of mediocre feudal lords).

The issue of provisions was the most painful. A person can live without water for several days, without food - for about a month (in this case, one should take into account his low combat capability during a hunger strike). Therefore, the owners of the castle, preparing for the siege, often went to extreme measures - they drove out of it all commoners who could not benefit the defense. As mentioned above, the garrison of the castles was small - it was impossible to feed the whole army under the siege.

The inhabitants of the castle infrequently launched counterattacks. This simply did not make sense - there were fewer of them than the attackers, and behind the walls they felt much calmer. Food outings are a special case. The latter were carried out, as a rule, at night, in small groups that walked along poorly guarded paths to the nearest villages.

The attackers had no less problems. The siege of castles sometimes dragged on for years (for example, the German Turant defended from 1245 to 1248), so the question of logistical supply for an army of several hundred people was particularly acute.

In the case of the siege of Turant, the chroniclers claim that during all this time the soldiers of the attacking army drank 300 fouders of wine (a fuder is a huge barrel). This is about 2.8 million liters. Either the scribe made a mistake, or the constant number of besiegers was over 1,000.

The most preferred season for taking the castle by starvation was summer - it rains less than in spring or autumn (in winter, the inhabitants of the castle could get water by melting the snow), the harvest has not yet ripened, and the old stocks have already run out.

The attackers tried to deprive the castle of a source of water (for example, they built dams on the river). In the most extreme cases, "biological weapons" were used - corpses were thrown into the water, which could provoke outbreaks of epidemics throughout the district. Those inhabitants of the castle who were taken prisoner were mutilated by the attackers and released. Those returned back, and became unwitting freeloaders. They might not have been accepted in the castle, but if they were the wives or children of the besieged, then the voice of the heart outweighed considerations of tactical expediency.

No less brutally treated the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, who tried to deliver supplies to the castle. In 1161, during the siege of Milan, Frederick Barbarossa ordered the hands of 25 citizens of Piacenza, who were trying to supply the enemy with provisions, to be cut off.

The besiegers set up a permanent camp near the castle. It also had some simple fortifications (palisades, earth ramparts) in case of a sudden sortie by the defenders of the fortress. For protracted sieges, a so-called “counter-castle” was erected next to the castle. Usually it was located higher than the besieged one, which made it possible to conduct effective observation of the besieged from its walls and, if the distance allowed, to fire at them from throwing guns.

View of the castle Eltz from the counter-castle Trutz-Eltz.

The war against castles had its own specifics. After all, any more or less high stone fortification was a serious obstacle for conventional armies. Direct infantry attacks on the fortress could well have been successful, which, however, came at the cost of heavy casualties.

That is why a whole range of military measures was necessary for the successful capture of the castle (it was already mentioned above about the siege and starvation). Undermining was one of the most time-consuming, but at the same time extremely successful ways to overcome the protection of the castle.

Undermining was done with two goals - to provide troops with direct access to the courtyard of the castle, or to destroy a section of its wall.

So, during the siege of the castle of Altwindstein in Northern Alsace in 1332, a brigade of sappers of 80 (!) People took advantage of the distracting maneuvers of their troops (periodic short attacks on the castle) and for 10 weeks made a long passage in solid rock to the southeastern part of the fortress .

If the castle wall was not too large and had an unreliable foundation, then a tunnel broke through under its foundation, the walls of which were reinforced with wooden struts. Next, the spacers were set on fire - just under the wall. The tunnel collapsed, the base of the foundation sagged, and the wall above this place crumbled into pieces.

Storming of the castle (miniature of the 14th century).

Later, with the advent of gunpowder weapons, bombs were planted in tunnels under the walls of castles. To neutralize the tunnel, the besieged sometimes dug counterdigs. Enemy sappers were poured with boiling water, launched into the tunnel of bees, poured feces there (and in ancient time Carthaginians launched live crocodiles into Roman mines).

Curious devices were used to detect tunnels. For example, large copper bowls with balls inside were placed throughout the castle. If the ball in any bowl began to tremble, this was a sure sign that a mine was being dug nearby.

But the main argument in the attack on the castle were siege machines - catapults and battering rams. The first ones were not much different from those catapults that were used by the Romans. These devices were equipped with a counterweight, giving the throwing arm the greatest force. With proper dexterity of the “gun crew”, catapults were quite accurate weapons. They threw large, smoothly hewn stones, and the combat range (on average, several hundred meters) was regulated by the weight of the shells.

A type of catapult is a trebuchet.

Sometimes barrels filled with combustible materials were loaded into catapults. To deliver a couple of pleasant minutes to the defenders of the castle, catapults threw the severed heads of captives to them (especially powerful machines could throw even whole corpses over the wall).

Assault the castle with a mobile tower.

In addition to the usual ram, pendulum ones were also used. They were mounted on high mobile frames with a canopy and were a log suspended on a chain. The besiegers hid inside the tower and swung the chain, forcing the log to hit the wall.

In response, the besieged lowered a rope from the wall, at the end of which steel hooks were fixed. With this rope, they caught a ram and tried to lift it up, depriving it of mobility. Sometimes a gaping soldier could get caught on such hooks.

Having overcome the shaft, breaking the palisades and filling up the moat, the attackers either stormed the castle with the help of ladders, or used high wooden towers, the upper platform of which was on the same level with the wall (or even higher than it). These gigantic structures were doused with water to prevent arson by the defenders and rolled up to the castle along the flooring of the boards. A heavy platform was thrown over the wall. The assault group climbed up the internal stairs, went out onto the platform and with a fight invaded the gallery of the fortress wall. Usually this meant that in a couple of minutes the castle would be taken.

Silent glanders

Sapa (from the French sape, literally - a hoe, saper - to dig) - a method of extracting a moat, trench or tunnel to approach its fortifications, used in the 16-19 centuries. Flip-flop (quiet, secretive) and flying glanders are known. The work of the throwing glanders was carried out from the bottom of the original ditch without the workers coming to the surface, and the flying glanders were carried out from the surface of the earth under the cover of a pre-prepared protective mound of barrels and bags of earth. In the second half of the 17th century, specialists - sappers - appeared in the armies of a number of countries to perform such work.

The expression to act "on the sly" means: sneak, slowly, imperceptibly go, penetrate somewhere.

Fights on the stairs of the castle

It was possible to get from one floor of the tower to another only through a narrow and steep spiral staircase. The ascent along it was carried out only one after another - it was so narrow. At the same time, the warrior who went first could only rely on his own ability to fight, because the steepness of the turn of the turn was chosen in such a way that it was impossible to use a spear or a long sword from behind the leader. Therefore, the fights on the stairs were reduced to single combat between the defenders of the castle and one of the attackers. It was the defenders, because they could easily replace each other, since a special extended area was located behind their backs.

In all castles, the stairs are twisted clockwise. There is only one castle with a reverse twist - the fortress of the Wallenstein counts. When studying the history of this family, it turned out that most of the men in it were left-handed. Thanks to this, historians realized that such a design of stairs greatly facilitates the work of the defenders. The strongest blow with the sword can be delivered towards your left shoulder, and the shield in your left hand covers the body best from this direction. All these advantages are available only to the defender. The attacker, on the other hand, can only strike to the right side, but his striking arm will be pressed against the wall. If he puts forward a shield, he will almost lose the ability to use weapons.

samurai castles

Himeji Castle.

We know the least about exotic castles - for example, Japanese ones.

Initially, the samurai and their overlords lived on their estates, where, apart from the watchtower “yagura” and a small moat around the dwelling, there were no other defensive structures. In case of a protracted war, fortifications were erected on hard-to-reach areas of the mountains, where it was possible to defend against superior enemy forces.

Stone castles began to be built at the end of the 16th century, taking into account European achievements in fortification. An indispensable attribute of a Japanese castle is wide and deep artificial ditches with steep slopes that surrounded it from all sides. Usually they were filled with water, but sometimes this function was performed by a natural water barrier - a river, a lake, a swamp.

Inside, the castle was a complex system of defensive structures, consisting of several rows of walls with courtyards and gates, underground corridors and labyrinths. All these buildings were located around central square honmaru, on which the feudal lord's palace and the high central tenshukaku tower were erected. The latter consisted of several rectangular tiers gradually decreasing upwards with protruding tiled roofs and gables.

Japanese castles, as a rule, were small - about 200 meters long and 500 wide. But among them there were also real giants. Thus, Odawara Castle occupied an area of ​​170 hectares, and the total length of its fortress walls reached 5 kilometers, which is twice the length of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin.

The charm of antiquity

Castles are being built to this day. Those of them that were in state ownership are often returned to the descendants of ancient families. Castles are a symbol of the influence of their owners. They are an example of an ideal compositional solution that combines unity (defense considerations did not allow picturesque distribution of buildings across the territory), multi-level buildings (main and secondary) and the ultimate functionality of all components. Elements of the castle's architecture have already become archetypes - for example, a castle tower with battlements: its image sits in the subconscious of any more or less educated person.

Saumur French castle (14th century miniature).

And finally, we love castles because they are simply romantic. Knightly tournaments, ceremonial receptions, vile conspiracies, secret passages, ghosts, treasures - in relation to castles, all this ceases to be a legend and turns into history. Here, the expression “walls remember” fits perfectly: it seems that every stone of the castle breathes and hides a secret. I would like to believe that medieval castles will continue to retain an aura of mystery - because without it they will sooner or later turn into an old pile of stones.

Time is relentless, and ancient structures reach us mainly in the form of ruins, which are more interesting for archaeologists than tourists. But fate favored some especially durable ones, and they were well preserved. So some of the oldest castles in the world turned out to be available for tourists, visits to which are always interesting and informative. In Europe, castles began to be actively built at the end of the 10th century, and by the 14th century this type of architecture had reached its perfection.

1. Bernstein Castle, (Austria)

The long history of Bernstein Castle is rich in events, it changed owners so many times that neither the exact number of them nor the name of the one who built this castle remained. It was first mentioned in documents in 860, and in the 13th century it served as a border fortress. It was built in a place where the borders of Austria, Bohemia and Hungary closed, so the leaders of these countries competed for possession of the castle.
Bernstein is a remarkable example of bastion architecture. It has an oval perimeter, it has very thick, almost fortress walls with rare turrets and narrow windows. The courtyard now has a beautiful garden. The nature around Bernstein is untouched, and there is a golf course and a famous golf club nearby - this game is an important reason why guests come to the castle. In 1953, the castle was converted into a hotel, which it remains today. The owners of the castle were able to preserve its authenticity - this applies not only to the walls, but also to the interiors and furniture, which are also very old. Entering the Bernstein Castle, a person immediately feels like he has fallen into the era of knights.

Most castles began to be built in the Middle Ages, when housing was supposed to be not only a place to relax and solve everyday problems, but also as a...

2. Foix Castle (France)

This castle, located in the south of France, in the Pyrenees, belonged to the once famous family of the Counts of Foix. Its history begins in 987. In the will of Count Roger I of Carcassonne in 1002, the castle was transferred to his younger son Bernard. In 1034, it becomes the center of government of the county of Foix, leaving a noticeable mark on medieval military history. Since the 15th century, the castle has been the residence of the governor of this region, while at the same time it continued to perform protective functions throughout the religious wars. Before the French Revolution, the castle housed a garrison.
Count de Treville, known from the Three Musketeers, and the future minister of Louis XVI, Marshal Segur, ruled here. In 1930, the museum of the department of Ariège was placed here, which has expositions dedicated to the prehistoric, Gallo-Roman and medieval eras on this land.

3. Castle of the Black Falcon (France)

This wonderful castle is located in the French department of Indre-et-Loire, in the town of Montbazon and is the oldest surviving stone defensive structure in France. The fortress was built in the period 991-996 by order of Count Fulk Nerra of Anjou, then several more defensive buildings joined it. Despite its long and not the most peaceful history, this castle has been perfectly preserved, and since 2003 it has been opened to the public. The modern outlines of the castle were given during the Middle Ages - in the XII century, the feudal lords of Montbazon, who owned it.
The dominant feature of the complex is a 28-meter-high quadrangular donjon, in addition, there is a small tower fortified by a number of ledges, a massive fence and a closed courtyard. In 1791, the period of decline of this castle began, along with the fall of the small tower and the dungeons adjacent to it, and after 7 years, lightning struck the donjon. By the way, the cracks that ran along its eastern wall are evidence of this episode.

4. Langeai Castle (France)

In 992, the construction of Langeai Castle began, which was originally a wooden donjon built on an artificial hill. This place is located 24 kilometers from Tours, the owner of these lands was the first Count of Blois. Unlike other capital donjons, this one was built in a hurry, but its walls were 1.5 meters thick. Then followed one war after another. For example, during the Hundred Years War, the castle was repeatedly captured by the British. Finally, they agreed to leave it in 1428, but on the condition that the castle be destroyed, leaving only the donjon.
King Louis XI ordered the restoration of the castle in 1465, after which many monarchs owned it. Anne of Brittany came to Langeais. When in 1797 the castle was acquired by Charles-Francois Moisan, he was noted only for the fact that he led it into disrepair, sold the surrounding land, and set up a stable on the first floor of the castle. After the purchase of the castle in 1839 by Christophe Baron, a revival begins for it. In 1886, the Minister of Trade and Mayor of Le Havre, Jacques Siegfried, became the new owner of Langeais, who devoted the next two decades to the restoration of the complex, especially its interiors. And in 1904 he donated the castle to the Institute of France.

Castles are defensive structures that combine not only residential buildings, but also fortifications. Most often called castles ...

5. Loches Castle (France)

Among all the medieval donjons that have survived to this day, the one located in the castle of Loches is perhaps the oldest. It began to be built in 1005 and finished around 1070. It turned out a 38-meter-high structure with three-meter-thick walls, almost impregnable. Story Fortress Loches It began with the reign of Count Fulk Nerra of Anjou, a restless warrior who had been at enmity with de Blois's neighbors all his life. It was he who decided to build a square stone fortress.
Part of the premises of the castle is open to the public today, the 15th century torture chamber built by Charles VII is especially popular - you can see the shackles that held the legs of the executed during the quartering. A copy of the cell of Louis XI, in which Bishop Balu sat for 11 years, is also kept here. The Ministry of Culture of France in 1861 recognized the castle of Loches as a significant historical monument.

6. Bled Castle (Slovenia)

Near the Slovenian city of Bled, on a 130-meter cliff towering over Lake Bled, the Bled Castle rises. It was first mentioned in a document of 1004, announcing the transfer of Feldes Castle (then German name) by Emperor Henry II to Bishop Albuin of Brixen. Its oldest building is the Romanesque donjon, used for defense, living and viewing the surroundings.
In the medieval period, other buildings clung to the cliff, and stone defensive walls with towers were built on its very top. In 1947, the castle was on fire, but a few years later it was restored and set up there. historical Museum, which presents weapons, clothing and household items of that time.

7. Angers Castle (France)

Another castle from the banks of the Loire from the department of Maine and Loire. This area was part of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century. There was a small border outpost on the banks of the river Men, with wooden walls to protect against Vikings and barbarians. In 851, the fortress came under the control of Geoffroy II, Count of Anjou, who managed to turn a modest wooden fort into a large stone castle. In 1939, the Polish government-in-exile settled here, but already in 1940 the Germans smoked it out of there too.
After the war, Angers Castle was restored. Its main attraction was the cycle of tapestries "Apocalypse" - 7 canvases on biblical subjects, woven by 1378 according to the sketches of the Flemish painter Jean by the weaver Nicolas Batailly. The canvases have a total length of 144 meters with a height of 5.5 meters.

Switzerland is not only a country of magnificent mountains, but also beautiful examples of medieval architecture. The centuries-old turbulent history of this Alpine...

8. Chepstow Castle (Wales)

This castle stands on the banks of the River Wye in the town of Chepstow in south Wales. It was built by William Fitz-Osburn between 1067 and 1071. The Earl of Pembroke added a couple of towers to it in 1200, and his sons added a barbican protecting the drawbridge and a gatehouse. This is the first castle on the entire island of Great Britain, built entirely of stone. In the middle of the 19th century, holidays and horticultural exhibitions began to be held in the castle, which were soon supplemented by festivals and historical competitions that continue to this day. In 1914, it was bought by a businessman who mothballed the castle, and in 1953 his family handed over the castle to the state, after which it became open to the public.

9. Windsor Castle (England)

This is the current residence of the British monarchs located in the city of Windsor. For over 900 years, towering on a hill in the Thames Valley, it is a symbol of the monarchy. Having captured England in 1066, William I the Conqueror over the next decade surrounded London with a ring of castles standing on artificial hills 30 kilometers from the capital and from each other. At first, the castle was wooden, but with a stone wall around the perimeter, it stood on a limestone hill about 30 meters above the level of the Thames.
The first to use Windsor Castle as his residence was King Henry I in 1110, and then he married Adele in 1121. By this point, the wooden structures had partially collapsed due to the gradual subsidence of the hill. Then wooden piles were driven into the hill, on which a stone fortress was erected. Henry II, who ascended the throne in 1154, continued the construction of the castle.
Today, Windsor Castle is the largest inhabited castle in the world, with about 500 people working and living there. The Queen visits there in March-April and a week in June each year, where she conducts ceremonies related to the Order of the Garter. Here she officially receives foreign representatives. About a million tourists visit Windsor every year.

Each of the mighty of this world, who lived on sinful earth, tried to perpetuate himself in history with the help of construction magnificent palace. To the residence like...

10. Dover Castle (England)

This is one of the largest English castles in terms of size, located in Dover (Kent), on the English Channel, which separates the British Isles from the continent. Part of the buildings of the castle dates back to ancient times. The fortress was surrounded by a huge moat, which was dug out, possibly in the Iron Age. At the beginning of a new era before british isles came the troops of the Roman Empire, they built two lighthouses on this site, while one of them has survived to this day. It can still be seen today when visiting Dover.
In the region of the 10th century, the church of St. Mary of Castro was attached to the lighthouse, and the lighthouse was also its bell tower. This church also managed to survive. In 1066, the Normans, led by William I, captured the castle and all of England. Henry II - his grandson began to build a defensive system and main tower castle. The construction then took a colossal amount - 7,000 pounds, of which 4,000 were spent on the construction of the donjon. In the 18th century, during the wars with Napoleon, at a depth of 15 meters under the fortress, tunnels were cut in the rocks for the living of soldiers in the amount of 2000 bayonets. The castle was also expanded and fortified to withstand the onslaught of the French. But after 1826, when Bonaparte was finished, the castle was abandoned, and all its inhabitants left it without using it in any way.
Only about a century later, in 1939, when the war with Germany began, they remembered the tunnels, which were converted first into bomb shelters, and then into a military hospital. Now the castle is a large museum complex, open to all comers.

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There are many ancient houses and ancient castles in the world, which are shrouded in centuries-old legends and, of course, inhabited by real ghosts. Especially for lovers of horror and mystical stories on Halloween day, we have prepared a list of 5 sinister haunted houses and castles, but we note that there are many more!

All haunted buildings have a tragic history. These premises have seen, heard, remember and conceal a lot so far.

Blickling Hall

The English castle Blickling Hall is located in the county of Norfolk, in the east of the country. It was built in the mid-16th century for the Chief Justice of Hobart, who served under the first Stuart king, James I.

Prior to this, under the Tudors, Blinking Manor was in the possession of the Boleyn family.

Old English beliefs say that the famous Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was born here, and now her ghost often appears in the castle.

Anne became the second wife of the King of England in 1533, after he tried to break off his previous marriage, which did not bring him a male heir. As a result, Henry severed not only his marriage, but also the relationship of England with the Vatican. So strong was his love for the beautiful Anna.

Having put on the crown of England, Boleyn became more demanding - the queen made many enemies for herself. And after a while, she began to behave even more provocatively, basking in a rich life: she ordered the most expensive jewelry, arranged very magnificent holidays ... But the heir to the throne never appeared. As a result, Anna gave birth to the king another daughter.

Heinrich was disappointed. By 1536, the king became interested in another woman, Jane Seymour, and decided to get rid of the capricious Anna. The Queen was accused of treason against the King and the Motherland. May 19, 1536 Anne Boleyn was beheaded. Since then, her soul has been haunting Blinging Hall Castle. Most often she is seen with her head in her hands ...

Rožmberk Castle

Rožmberk Castle in the Czech Republic stands on the high bank of the Vtalva. Its walls have seen a lot in their time - the castle was erected in the XIII century by the knights of the five-petal rose Rožberki.

In 1429, the then owner of the castle, Ulrich Rozmberk, had a daughter, she was named Perhta. When the girl reached the age of 20, her father forcibly married her to the nobleman Jan Liechtenstein. Thus, Ulrich counted on the political connections of Jan, and the groom, in turn, on the state of the Rozhberks.

But the hopes of both sides were not justified. The husband did not love the unfortunate Perkhta and treated her very badly. In addition, his mother and sisters often made fun of the girl.

Jan Liechtenstein died in 1476. On his deathbed, the tormentor asked for forgiveness from Perkhta, but she refused him. In response, the dying man exclaimed: “So be damned!”.

Three years later, Perkhta also died, but her soul remained to wander on earth - apparently, the words of the curse had an effect ...

Now she lives in the Rozhberk family castle, and appears to people in a white dress. Therefore, she is called the "White Lady".

The white lady is a kind ghost, she does not harm anyone. According to legends, the White Lady sometimes appears in a black dress or black gloves - this means that someone will die soon. Once there was a case that she appeared in a red robe - after a while there was a major fire in the castle.

Glamis Castle. Scotland

Scotland is a country of mysteries and mysticism. Here, every second castle is haunted, and the medieval castle of Glamis can be called one of the most haunted and, at the same time, the most beautiful castle in Scotland.

The history of Glamis dates back to the 11th century. It was the favorite hunting ground of the Scottish kings. The modern building of the castle with battlements and a gloomy silhouette took shape only by the 17th century.

In 1034, the first tragedy happened here - King Malcolm II of Scotland was brutally murdered in Glamis. On the day of the assassination, the king's blood soaked into the wooden floor of the then Glamis hunting lodge, and Malcolm's ghost still often appeared in this place.

By the way, the blood stain has survived to this day in the so-called Malcolm's room.

In the 15th century, the following mystical story Glamis. The Earl of Glamis was an avid card player. One Saturday evening, he was so carried away by the game that he could not stop until midnight. One of the servants reminded the count that Sunday had already come and that it was not proper for a Christian to gamble on that day.

To which the count replied: “I will not stop the game, even if the devil himself decides to join us!”. In a moment, thunder rang out and Satan appeared, he announced to the players that they had lost their souls to him and were now doomed to play cards until the Last Judgment.

According to legend, the Earl plays cards with the devil to this day in the "non-existent" room of Glamis Castle. Outside, the room is clearly visible through the windows, but inside there is no door.

It is also said that when the servants caught the count's ghost playing cards with Satan, they walled up the entrance to the room.

People say that if you go up to the wall of the room on the night from Saturday to Sunday, you can hear the voices of the players ...

Musham Castle

This castle was built in 1208 by the Bishop of Salzburg. Since then it has gained notoriety.

This is because hundreds of sorcerers and witches were beheaded here in the Middle Ages. Since then, their spirits have chosen Musham. People studying the ancient chambers feel someone's touch, hear strange sounds, or even see something inexplicable.

It is said that at one time the castle was a refuge for a werewolf. Only there it is possible to explain the appearance in the walls of the building of the disfigured corpses of wild deer and large domestic animals.

Castle Frankenstein

This castle is located in a very picturesque place near the German city of Darmstadt. The legends about the castle are the darkest.

It is worth starting with the fact that its owner, doctor, scientist and alchemist Joseph Conrad Dippel von Frankenstein became the inspiration for the famous writer Mary Shelley, who wrote the book "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus." And not by chance.

A lot of things were said about the doctor, and mostly terrible. Local residents claimed that he sold his soul to the devil, and therefore digs up the bodies of recently buried people from the graves and puts experiments on them in order to revive them. There were also rumors that Frankenstein was looking for an elixir of immortality, which he created from the bones, blood and other parts of animals.

After one of the towers of the castle was torn apart by a powerful explosion (it is believed that the doctor experimented unsuccessfully with nitroglycerin), Frankenstein was finally recognized as a sorcerer, and people began to bypass the castle. But the "details" of what was happening in the alchemist's laboratory, more and more like horror films.

But with all this, Frankenstein made a good career as a doctor, he was known and respected by many well-born contemporaries. It is believed that it was he who invented the stethoscope, as well as all sorts of drops and rubbing, which are still used today.

The death of the alchemist was terrible and mysterious. At first he just disappeared. He was searched for a long time, including in his laboratory. And then found, just where he conducted his heartbreaking experiments. A nightmarish grimace froze on his face, there was white foam on his lips, and pieces of rotting human flesh were scattered around the dead body. Maybe one of the people punished him, or maybe the one to whom he once sold his soul came for the alchemist ... You have to pay the bills ...

And since then, since 1734, Dr. Frankenstein regularly appears both in the castle itself, and on its roof, and in the surrounding area. He rattles his bones loudly and demands that his lab be returned to him.

Today, the castle is in ruins, but in its vicinity, young people have chosen a place to celebrate Halloween.

Since ancient times, castles have been built to protect a region from enemies, and today they best reflect the history of states. In most cases, huge stone structures were built on the site of a small fortress. Awe-inspiring outposts are the most widespread in Europe. Over the centuries, they were strengthened and completed, and now they are tourist attractions. Thousands of ancient structures are scattered all over the world, but these very old castles are a separate page of history…

Killily Castle, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1180

Killili Castle is the main attraction of the village of the same name in Northern Ireland. The oldest parts of it date back to 1180, which is why it is believed that this is the oldest castle in the country. King James I granted the land on which the castle stands to James Hamilton, who later became the first Viscount Clanab. He then built a high castle surrounded by a wall.
Since 1625, the castle has been the family home of the Hamilton family. In 1666, James Hamilton's son, Henry, restored the estate, added another tower, and erected a long fortified wall in front of the castle. This is how we see Killili today.

Alcazar in Segovia, Spain. Founded at the beginning of the 12th century

The Alcazar of Segovia was once an Arab fortress built on the remains of a Roman fort. The earliest mention of it dates back to 1120. At this time, the city was recaptured by King Alfonso VI. During the reign of King Alfonso VIII and his wife Eleanor of England, the Alcazar was their main residence. They rebuilt the ancient outpost and made it what it is today.
The castle remained one of the most important fortresses for the monarchs of Castile until they moved the capital to Madrid. In 1882, the castle was restored to its original state, and in 1896 King Alfonso XIII gave it to the Ministry of War for use as a military college.

Rochester Castle, Kent, South East England. Founded in the late 1080s

Rochester Castle was built in the late 1080s after William II asked Bishop Gandalf of Rochester to build a stone castle here so that he could control the crossing of the river. This stone building is one of the first of its kind in England, because many of the country's early castles at that time were built according to the motte and bailey type (mound-palisade castle).
In 1127, the Archbishop of Canteburi began the construction of the temple, which is considered one of the best preserved in England and France. Exactly this high building in Europe. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the castle was restored and opened to the public.

. Founded in 1077

The first fortress of Hohensalzburg Castle was built in 1077 by Gebhard I of Helfenstein, who was the archbishop at the time. And although he was expelled, his successors completed the construction. During the reign of the Holy Roman Empire, the archbishops of Salzburg continued to expand the castle to protect their power and interests. Around 1500, Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach completed the construction. And today we see the castle as it was at that time.
Despite the fact that the castle was built as a fortress, it was besieged only once in 1525 - during the peasant war in Germany. At the end of the 19th century, the castle was restored and has been a popular tourist attraction ever since.

Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England. Founded in 1070

Although there was a royal residence in Windsor in Saxon times (around the 9th century), the construction of the first castle began around 1070, after the invasion of England by William the Conqueror. Since the reign of King Henry I, the castle has been the residence of the reigning monarchs of England. This is the oldest royal residence in Europe.
Initially, the castle was built according to the "motte and bailey" type, but stone fortifications were gradually erected. When Henry III came to power, he built a magnificent royal palace on the castle grounds, and Edward III made it even more grandiose. Windsor Castle is still owned by the English royal family and is a popular tourist attraction.

Reichsburg Cochem, Germany. Founded in 1000

Reichsburg Cochem or Cochem Castle is one of the oldest castles in the world. It is believed to have been built around the year 1000 by the Count Palatine of Ezzo. The earliest documentation of the castle appeared in 1051, when Richesa, the eldest daughter of the count palatine and former queen of Poland, gave the castle to her nephew, count palatine Henry I.
In 1151, the castle officially became an imperial residence after King Conrad III occupied it by force. In 1688, the castle was partially destroyed by the army of the French King Louis XIV, and in 1868 it was rebuilt. Since 1978, the castle has been owned by the city of Cochem.

Citadel of Aleppo, Syria. Founded in 3000 BC

Aleppo Citadel is one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. It is located on top of a hill in the ancient city of Aleppo, which is the object of world heritage UNESCO. The fortress of the citadel was built before 3000 BC. BC, but most of the buildings were probably erected during the reign of the Ayubid dynasty in the 12th century.
In the early 2000s, the Aga Khan Cultural Foundation, in collaboration with the Aleppo Archaeological Society, carried out extensive conservation work at the citadel. Unfortunately, in recent years it has been seriously damaged as a result of the ongoing war.