European Castles had their origins dating back to around A.D. 900 to 1000 and played a great role in the then military system of feudalism. During the Middle Ages, Europe was a vastly divided continent to that which we have come to know today. She was

1
European Castles had their origins dating
back to around A.D. 900 to 1000 and played a
great role in the then military system of
feudalism. During the Middle Ages, Europe was a
vastly divided continent to that which we have
come to know today. She was made up of many tiny
feudal states and local conflicts between
neighboring states were common.Castles were
first built for defense against attacking armies
of war torn feudal Europe and were necessary to
help protect the villages and their lords. As
Europe grew and the states merged or were
conquered, the castle was built as a place of
government over the local populace. By 1500,
castles became much less important in Europe.
Cannons were invented, so it was easy to invade,
capture and destroy a castle.The date indicated
on the slides is when the construction was
started. Many changes and additions were done
during the years. There is some confusion
between the difference between a castle and a
palace. A castle formed the center of a county
and was also its defense. In times of war people
could seek refuge at the castle. It was also the
dwelling of the lord of that particular county. A
palace is a very luxurious home for wealthy
people, built by anybody who had money enough to
build and maintain it and had nothing to do with
defense. Some palaces are wrongly named castles.
For instance the Peles Castle from Romania is
really a summer palace.The selection of the
pictures for this presentation is far from
complete. There are many more hundreds of castles
in Europe that are not shown.The castles are
shown in alphabetical order. To avoid boredom, by
seeing too many pictures at one time, the
presentation is divided in three parts. Enjoy!
EUROPEEN CASTLES PART 1 of 3
2
AIRTHREY CASTLE SCOTLAND BUILT 1791
3
ALCAZAR CASTLESEGOVIA SPAINSTARTED IN 12th
CENTURY
4
AMBOISE CASTLE LOIRE VALLEY-FRANCE STARTED
IN 15th CENTURY
5
ARAGONESE CASTLEISCHIA ITALY STARTED IN 1438
6
ARUNDEL CASTLENORFOLK ENGLANDSTARTED IN 11th
CENTURY
7
BAMBURGH CASTLENORTHUMBERLAND ENGLANDSTARTED
6th CENTURY
8
BERWICK CASTLEENGLAND 12th CENTURY
9
BLED CASTLESLOVENIASTARTED 1004
10
CHAMBORD CASTLE LOIRE FRANCE 13th CENTURY
11
BODIAM CASTLE SCOTLAND STARTED IN 12th
CENTURY
12
BONAGUIL CASTLEGARONNE FRANCESTARTED IN 1250
13
BOJNICE CASTLECROATIA12tH CENTURY
14
BRAN (DRACULA) CASTLEROMANIA STARTED 1212
15
BRETESCHE CASTLE FRANCE 15tH CENTURY
16
BUNRATTY CASTLE IRELAND STARTED IN 1425
17
CAERNARFON CASTLE WALESSTARTED IN 1283
18
CARDIFF CASTLE WALES 12th CENTURY
19
CAWDORL CASTLE SCOTLAND 14tH CENTURY
20
CHAMBORD CASTLELOIRE FRANCE16th CENTURY
21
CHANTILLY CASTLEPARIS SUBURBS FRANCE 1719
22
CHAMONT CASTLELOIRE FRANCE15th CENTURY
23
CHENONCEAU CASTLELOIRE FRANCE STARTED IN 1430
24
CHILLON CASTLESWITZERLANDSTARTED 9th CENTURY
25
CLIFDEN CASTLE IRELANDBUILT IN 1812
26
COCHEM CASTLE GERMANY 1354
27
COMTAL CASTLECARCASSONNE FRANCESTARTED IN 1130
28
DE HAAR CASTLENETHERLANDS 14th CENTURY
29
DOBROVIN CASTLESCOTLANDSTARTED 15th CENTURY
30
DUNGUAIRE CASTLEIRELAND 1520
31
MY TYPE OF VACATION!
YOUR TYPE OF VACATION?
GET UP AND GO VISIT SOME PLACE!
Presentation by Dan Calistrat dcalistrat_at_aol.com
Pictures from InternetEnd of part 1of 3