Medieval castle top view. The main elements of a medieval castle

The first fortifications in the form medieval castles appeared in IX - X centuries... at a time when the countries of Central Europe ( France, Germany and Northern Italy) began to threaten the aggression and invasion of barbarian tribes, and the Vikings. This greatly hampered the development of the empire created Charlemagne... To protect the land, they began to erect fortifications from wooden buildings. Such architecture " durable wood"for more reliable protection, it was added by the encirclement of an earthen ditch and a rampart. A hinged bridge overturned on chains or strong ropes through the ditch, through which they entered a residential settlement. A palisade was installed on the crest of the rampart. high altitude, safe from penetration inside the reinforcement. In the XI century, castles began to be built on artificial hills. Such hills were poured next to the courtyard, fenced off by a high palisade.
Sometimes there was also a log tower overhead. Inside the wooden fortification there were craft workshops, a barn, a well, a chapel and the leader's dwelling with his retinue. For even more reliable and additional defense, a high hill was raised (by about 5 m), on which an additional defensive fortification was built. The hill could be built by an artificial method, by pouring earth on a given surface. The material for construction was always chosen from wood, because the stone was too heavy, which means it could fall down due to its greater weight.

Knight's castles

Locks- these are stone buildings that protected from enemies and served as the home dwelling of one or another owner of the estate. In the most common sense of the word - fortified dwelling of a feudal lord in medieval Europe.
The architecture of medieval castles was significantly influenced by the Ancient Roman Fortifications and Byzantine structures, from where to IX century penetrated into Western Europe. The castles of noble feudal lords, in addition to being housing ones, also performed defensive functions. They tried to build them on areas that are inaccessible to humans (rocky ledges, hills, islands). Inside castles and fortresses, there was a main tower called donjon, in which the most important of its inhabitants (mainly the feudal nobility) took refuge. They tried to make the walls of the castles strong and high enough to protect the buildings from the assault of enemies (siege structures, artillery and stairs). The typical wall was 3 meters thick and 12 meters high. Various cuttings on the tops of the walls made it possible to conduct less safe shelling at the enemy, who was below, and even throw heavy objects towards the storming gates and pour tar. For the impassability of the castles, ditches were dug, which blocked access to the walls of the castles and to the gates (the gates were lowered on chains across the moat like a bridge, and at the entrance they were sometimes designed gersu- a descending wooden-metal grate). The ditches were deep pits filled with water (sometimes with stakes) to prevent the enemy from being overcome by swimming and undermining.

Donjon

Donjon was the main building during the defense and was a high stone tower, where the most important people of the castle were hiding in the event of its assault by enemies. The construction of such a building was taken very seriously. This required experienced artisans who were very good at erecting and building reliable stone structures. A particular serious attitude towards such construction among the owners of the estates began to appear towards XI century, where it was undertaken to build such defensive towers.
The thickest and most inaccessible dungeons first appeared at Normans... In a later period, almost all of the tall towers were built of stone, which replaced the buildings of wood. In order to completely and completely capture the keep, its enemies had to destroy stones with special assault installations, or dig a tunnel under the building in order to get inside. Over time, high, defensive towers acquired a round and polygonal shape during construction. This exterior design provided a more comfortable shooting experience for the keep defenders.
The internal architecture of high, defensive towers consisted of a garrison, a main hall and chambers of the owner of the castle and his family. The walls were covered with brick and stonework. Sometimes the walls were faced with cut stone. In the upper part of the dungeon there was a spiral staircase to the watchtower, where the sentinel was located, and next to him was the banner of the owner of the castle with heraldic symbols.

Medieval castles

For more reliable protection, the owners of some castles preferred to build additional fortifications for their walls. Ultimately, after the completion of such buildings, a double barrier was obtained, one of which was higher than the other and was located in the rear of the defense. This strategic architecture allowed double fire for the shooters defending the castle. In the event that the enemies seized one of the walls by storm, they stumbled upon the next one or even found themselves trapped, since the construction of the walls was connected together with a high tower - the keep.

Medieval castles were the mainstay and the most reliable protection of the feudal lord from enemies. Their appearance is individual for different states.

Castles of France

Castles of France... Numerous construction of architectural structures in France began in the Loire River valley. The oldest of them is keep-donjon Duet la Fontaine... In the historical era King Philip II Augustus (1180-1223 ) medieval castles were built with dungeons and fences that were quite reliable in their strength.
A distinctive feature of the French castles is the rounded cone-shaped hipped roof material, which evenly lies on the tower with a neat surface of the obverse design. The upper part of the towers has an angular surface of concave loopholes with windows, merging with the tops of "triangles" and "trapeziums". The arrangement of the middle windows for daylight, are large enough for full penetration of sunlight into the interior of the room. Sometimes large windows are located in the attic roof compartment, most likely to illuminate a particularly important room. In some sections of the buildings you can see solid, pronounced holes in the loopholes, tk. constant treaty wars of France made these defensive structures cost. In a later period of time, castle designs began to evolve into palace-like architecture.
The entrance to the castle was carried out by stone steps, on the sides of which there were two merging towers. Above the head of the ascending guest, in the wall, towered from three loopholes in the event of a siege or assault on the building. On the right side of the stairs, there were solid and flat slopes for convenient lifting and lowering of various loads.
The most mysterious and shrouded in the secrets of legends was the castle Saumur... In medieval times, it was constantly restored and eventually acquired an unimaginably fabulous appearance. This architecture was so highly regarded that many parts of the buildings were clad with gold materials.
In the courtyard of the Syumor castle there was a well with a huge underground reservoir. A house was built above the well (above), and a well gate was located in it, with the help of which it was possible to lift a large bucket of water. The lifting mechanism consisted of wooden wheels, connected by a separate tooth and groove.
V 17th century the western part of the castle began to collapse, which caused its abandonment. The building began to be used as a prison and barracks, but soon the architecture was restored and again "elevated" to the podium.
The main distinguishing feature of the castles of France- these are high, gabled roofs of a conical appearance.

Castles of Belgium

Castles of Belgium began to be erected in the Middle Ages with IX century the first millennium. The most outstanding castles are Arenberg, Castle of the Counts of Flanders, Beloy, Vev, Haasbeck, Wall and Anveng... In their appearance, they are small in size, but according to subjective data, they are very nice and attractive. Their main distinguishing feature is the presence of an arched bend in the area of ​​the lower parts of the roofs and the presence of upper domes on some types of locks. On the cone-shaped tops, there are pronounced vertical edges, which also give a peculiar style to the Belgian architecture. On the high tips of the sharp knitting needles, you can see the flaunting coats of arms and various shapes that add extra uniqueness. To some extent, the castles of Belgium are very similar to the external design of the English, but the British kingdom emphasizes a more rectangular architecture. The windows are tall and large, quite elongated in size. They are located most often in palace-type castles.
The most peculiar in their beauty are the castles Arenberg and Gravensten (Count's castle of Flanders). The first one is very similar in external design to a Catholic church, which is complemented by 2 black domes on the sides. The center is finished with a stair-like roof and an acute-angled small tower that fits very nicely into the interior. The count's castle also stands out for its peculiarly unusual shape. Its defensive wall has convex cylindrical towers, the top of which is much thicker than the bottom. And in the walls, perforated recesses and additional shutters were made for the circular architectures placed on them.

Castles of Germany

Castles of Germany They are inherently diverse in design, but most have shapes that resemble pointed tops and tall, oblong flat-topped towers. The most outstanding of them are Maxburg, Meshpelbrunn, Cochem, Pfalzgrafenstein and Liechtenstein... Many buildings are very similar to French ones, but German architecture has many more numerous extensions on the side walls. Some of the upper roofs of the castles consist of ladder-like slopes of the side skirts. The sharp and elongated ends of the skyscrapers have different symbols, statues or bell towers, which add even more interest to German architecture. Holes of loopholes ( machicul) of the locks have a fairly wide diameter. Apparently the medieval Germans loved to defend their castles not only with a bow and crossbow, but also with other methods of heavily armed attributes.
The outbuildings sometimes included residential, utility and church premises, which were lined mainly of bricks and formed rectangular courtyards. The main entrance of the castles was blocked by an iron-wooden lattice with a lowering mechanism. The downward and upward movement of the lattice was provided by means of an external wall along stone brackets. In some structures of other states, such a rise at the entrance was realized by a narrow sliding of the gap inside the portal.
In Germany, they tried to erect all castles on mountainous and hilly terrain. This excluded a full-fledged, enemy assault; comfortable shooting from siege weapons and a tunnel, which was hampered by the rocky rock below the architecture. In some types of buildings, the Germans used the principle of the Tower of Babel, when the height of the standing rushed high up, and the heavenly plane was lined with many loopholes around.

Castles of Spain

Castles of Spain... The architectural buildings of Spain were originally built by the Arabs, since this land was under their rule in the early, medieval period. On one of their hills, they had a magnificent, fortified palace - the Alhambra with openwork arches of the courtyard. But in 1492, the Europeans recaptured southern Spain from the Muslims and with it the last city of Grenada. Initially, the Muslims erected buildings very similar to the garrison fortresses (alcazabs) with square and acute-angled towers. Later, Europeans began to build tall, round dungeons with alternating structures.
The appearance of Spanish castles has a repeating combination of multiple, tall, elongated flat-surfaced towers, reminiscent of numerous chess pieces and very rook-like. At the top tips of the skyscrapers are small octagonal turrets. From a distance, they look more like rectangular, jagged slabs. The side surface of the walls has an undulating relief, which gives additional originality to the castles. The middle part of the stone covering of the high towers was sometimes covered with an additional layer of convex alternations of huge cobblestones. Such a cunning arrangement of buildings served to prevent the penetration of enemy installations and stairs. As a decoration, the image of a shield with a coat of arms was driven into the stone wall. Just above the middle, were the guards' passageways, which were decorated with curved patterns and various curves, including wide, arched windows.
An example of the described external image of the Moorish style is the castle-palace of El Real de Manzanares, built north of Madrid in 1475 by the first Duke of Infantado. This peculiar architecture had a square structure, which was surrounded by 2 rows of walls with round towers at the corners. Later, the heir to the duke in 1480, added an outstanding gallery and decorated the palace with turrets and stone hemispheres.

Czech castles

Czech castles... The construction of Czech castles was widespread in XIII-XIV centuries... The most famous of them are Deep, Bezdez, Bouzov, Bukhlov, Zvikov, Cost, Karlstein and Krshivoklat... Their architectural appearance is more reminiscent of palaces than seriously fortified defenses against enemy onslaught. Toothed-rectangular slabs and blocking, high walls are practically absent in the defensive functions of the former castles buildings. The main distinguishing feature of Czech architecture is the large triangular and polygonal roofs with pointed towers and stone pipes embedded in them. The attics have arched windows for daylight and a rooftop entrance. In the central towers of the locks, sometimes large, dial chimes were constructed. Many palaces were built in the Renaissance, Classicism and Gothic styles. Some views were rebuilt and restored, after which they became picturesque, graceful and even more beautiful.

But there are some types of castles that do not at all resemble the standard design of the local medieval buildings. For example a castle Deep(previously Frauenberg ) has an appearance more reminiscent of the Spanish style of architecture. Since it contains a large number of the same high towers, reminiscent of dungeons and a chess piece, a rook with numerous toothed-rectangular slabs. And on top of that, such elongated buildings have windows. This is one of the most beautiful castles in Europe, although not very large in size. It looks more like a huge mansion than a large palace. From the inside, the architecture contains 140 rooms, 11 towers and 2 rectangular courtyards. Outside, the white castle is decorated with skilful carvings of various figures, deer heads and hanging, antique lanterns.

Castles of Slovakia

Castles of Slovakia... The construction of Slovak castles began in XI century, but most of them were built in XIII century... The most outstanding of them are Bitchyansky Grad, Boinitsky, Bratislava Castle, Budatinsky, Zvolensky, Orava Castle, Smolenitsky, Spishsky Grad and Trenchyansky Castle locks. Architectures are inherently diverse in design. The size also varies in large and small shapes. The roofs of large castles stretch enormous dimensions with polygonal shapes. The towers have elongated, acute-angled ends with thin, long, spherical spokes. Windows are located rather less frequently than in other state castles, but most often they are numerous in small buildings. In some architectures, you can find convex, perforated stripes, which are an additional decoration, emphasizing a pronounced design. Mostly they can be seen at the rounded ends of elongated cylinders. Some castles in Slovakia have small balconies. They contain arched windows and vertical railings. Protective, defensive walls near the buildings are practically absent. They can be found only near the mountain structures of the hills.

The most impressive and unique in structure castles of Slovakia- it Bratislava Castle (square shape and towers located at each corner), Orava Castle (built with gradually rising foundations) , Trechiansky Castle (with a huge, powerful tower in the center), Zvolensky (with square-toothed slabs on their roof) and Smolenitsky (owning three prominent roofs in the middle, green and red) locks.

Castles of england

Castles of england... Many castles in England were built in XI century, but most of them today are in a dilapidated state. The main distinguishing feature is the solid rectangular towers, which consisted of narrow, elongated buildings. Their roofs are covered with jagged square slabs that can extend around the entire perimeter surrounding the architecture. Only a few structures have triangular and conical tops. If there are any, then such tips form a continuous row of acute-angled limbs in some raised row. For beauty, many architectures were treated with long, elongated pits around the entire circumference of the towers. this appearance emphasizes the unusual originality of the English castles. Another unusual feature is the presence of large and large windows in the walls that look more like a semi-palace structure. Sometimes elongated windows are located in wide arched arches, which additionally emphasize an extraordinary style. In many, even in small, square castles, the British designed and strengthened dial clocks with melodic chimes. To this day, they attach great importance to the exact time in their upbringing and culture.

England is a huge island, which means that it primarily needed the defense of coastal territories and a powerful fleet. Perhaps that is why her castles did not have a particularly reliable and protected architecture of the building from enemies.

Castles of Austria

Castles of Austria laid the foundation of their structure in VIII-IX centuries last millennium. The most famous of them are Artstetten, Gochosterwitz, Graz, Landskron, Rosenburg, Schattenburg, Hohenwerfen and Ehrenberg... Their main characteristic feature is high and very thick, rectangular towers with huge triangular and polygonal domed roofs. Too wide side surfaces are due to the fact that the buildings of high castles have many floors, which means that this requires a full climb up a spacious spiral staircase. At the highest height, at the base of the sharp pins, the builders placed artificial sculptures of various figures in the form of angels with wings. Near high foundations in architectural buildings, additional convex structures are sometimes added in the form of patterns and dimples that run along the perimeter or circle. Some types of castles have a railing with a varied vertical structure at the top. The architecture of the huge roofs is added by small, sharp-angled turrets, not too far apart. On them you can also see attic windows and an exit to the upper part of the ceiling. The windows are small in size and oval and square. In some places, the side walls of the towers are decorated with healthy, arched glass with patterns.
Some castles served not only as the home and defense of a noble society, but soon turned into a prison, barracks, museum and even a restaurant. Schattenburg Castle is one such example.

Castles of Italy

Castles of Italy... Most of the castles in Italy began to be erected in X-XI century second millennium. The most famous of them are Aragonese (Ischia), Balsigliano, Bari, Carbonara, Castello Maniace, Corigliano, Holy Angel, San Leo, Sforza, Otranto,Ursino and Estense.

The huge, thick width of the walls and the healthy circumference of the towers are the main distinguishing features of Italian castles. They are primitive and absolutely simple for the analyzing view of a traveler or tourist. Judging by their appearance, many of their species are very well adapted for defensive defense against enemies. The watchtowers are located quite high in the central parts of the architecture of the castles. They have many windows and a significantly convex protrusion in relation to the lower part of the stone tower.
The square tops of the walls have tendril-shaped cuts, thereby significantly emphasizing the uniqueness of other state castles. Under the toothed-rectangular slabs of Italian castles, there are numerous, pronounced oval depressions that stretch across the entire width of rectangular and round stone towers. On some architectures, you can also notice the presence of balconies with vertical, white railings on them. Doorways in the lower parts of the castle have huge, arched shapes. This is most likely due to the fact that in case of alarm, the defenders of the castle do not crowd, but fully run out in large detachments from their barracks. Similar factors include the presence of signal bell towers in the tops of the towers. The construction of castles and fortresses in Italy was conceived by a militarized plan of noble rulers and their architects.

Castles of Poland

Castles of Poland... The most intensive growth in the construction of Polish castles belongs to 1200-1700 biennium... second millennium. The most outstanding of them are Grodno, Kshenzh, Kurnitsky, Krasitsky, Lenchitsky, Lublinsky, Marienburg, Stettinsky and Khentinsky. In terms of their structure, they have a variety of designs in large and small sizes. Most of the castles have a palace appearance, and only a small part of them have serious defensive architecture. Polish castles are characterized by long, curvy domes, shaped like a chess piece of an elephant or an umbrella-shaped projection. These also include huge trapeze-like roofs that extend across the entire width of the architectural top. Small, acute-angled towers contain bell towers, while large ones have rectangular windows for sentinel observation. The windows in the side parts of the walls are of various shapes, but most of them are rectangular and arched, like their arched frames, which emphasize their peculiar appearance.

Architectural style Poland is quite unique. The buildings were erected from the style of the donjon to the neo-Gothic. This rather elegant type of building structure includes Kurnice castle, very nice external design.
Some types of castles are so tiny that they more resemble a small mansion rather than a heavily defensive fortress. An example is Shimbark castle... And if you compare him with such a giant as Marienburg, then the first will seem like an absolute highlight compared to the brute.

The exterior of the architecture was of the Gothic and Renaissance style. But all Belarusian locks have a different design, which is peculiarly different from each other. The largest of them is Mir Castle... Its main distinguishing feature is its large size and the presence of defensive walls. They contain a number of small windows (loopholes) designed for masked observation and protection of the castle. The entire architecture consists mainly of red brick, covering the entire perimeter of the building. Rectangular windows and loopholes are framed in white, arched frames. The roofs have a triangular shape on the tips of the spokes of which there are patterns of balls and flags. The entrance to the inside is carried out by means of oval arches located in several parts of the castle.
Gomel castle was also large enough in area, but consisted of separate buildings and a very low defensive wall. On it were small towers with worn oval domes. Rather given architecture resembled more a monastery of separately standing structures than a castle for protection. The tall towers had pointed, black roofs with a variety of shapes. Even a separate chimney on the roof had a peculiar, colorful pattern.

At first, buildings were erected from wood, but with the advent of firearms, a much stronger material, such as stone, was needed. The solid fortifications held back the onslaught of bullets and arson much better.
Castles were built on heights, filling artificial hills and lining them with hewn stone. For the reliability of the fortifications, strategically tricky areas with seas and lakes were chosen. Sometimes the defense was supplemented with deep ditches with water, to further isolate land penetration into buildings. The many courtyards in the castle made it difficult for the enemy to reach the main tower. To get close to her, the attackers had to wander through them for a long time, like a maze, in search of a way out. It was easy to get lost. Some castles served as barracks for samurai warriors, erected by the daimyo - the owners of the provinces on the site of small fortresses. Such buildings could be constructed in cities and serve as fortified, administrative centers.
The appearance of Japanese castles resembled solid, upwardly curved, layered boulders of roofs, superimposed one on top of the other. Outside, they looked rather primitive and were very similar to each other. But the interior was attractive and varied. At the very top of the towers there was a high, carved pediment of the castle - a sign of the power of its owner. The roofs were multi-tiered like those of a pagoda, with wide slopes. Their surfaces were faced with wooden shingles. The outer walls were plastered and covered in white. Their side covers had slit windows and loopholes. The lower floors were faced with stone slabs.
Sometimes there were several towers in the castle, and the defenders fired at the enemy from different directions. Often a one-story tower was erected above the gate. And in the very center of the castle there was a multi-tiered main tower, erected on a mound. Later, the base of the tower was covered with stone, while other parts remained wooden. To reduce the risk of fire, the walls were covered with a thick layer of plaster, and the gates were bound with iron plates. The towers served both as headquarters, observation tower and huge warehouses. The owner's quarters were located on the upper floors. Wooden buildings could make up a combination of hallways, rooms, huts, corridors and towers with numerous rooms taken together. Most often, only noble princes, nobles and boyars could afford such luxurious dwellings. Their rooms were located on the highest floors. Below, there were rooms for servants and subjects.
The mansions were subdivided into resting , non-combatants and outbuildings ... Premises resting architectures had a separate dwelling, in one of which the owner lived, and in the other his wife and children. Their rooms were connected by common corridors, with the help of which it was possible to go to the desired room. Restless mansions served for meetings, solemn events and holidays. They built huge halls for a large number of people. Household mansions used for everyday needs in crafts and households. They looked like stables, barns, laundries, and workshops.

Hello dear reader!

Still, medieval architects in Europe were geniuses - they built castles, luxurious structures that were also extremely practical. Castles, unlike modern mansions, not only demonstrated the wealth of their owners, but also served as powerful fortresses that could hold the defense for several years, and at the same time life did not stop there.

Medieval castles

Even the very fact that many castles, having survived the wars, the blows of the elements and the carelessness of the owners, are still intact, suggests that they have not yet invented more reliable dwellings. And they are also incredibly beautiful and seem to have appeared in our world from the pages of fairy tales and legends. Their high spiers remind of the times when they fought for the hearts of beauties, and the air was saturated with chivalry and courage.

In order for you to be imbued with a romantic mood, I have collected in this material 20 of the most famous castles that are still left on Earth. You will certainly want to visit them and, possibly, stay to live.

Reichsburg Castle, Germany

The millennial castle was originally the seat of King Conrad III of Germany and later of King Louis XIV of France. The fortress was burned down by the French in 1689 and would have sunk into oblivion, but a German businessman acquired its remains in 1868 and spent most of his wealth on rebuilding the castle.

Mont Saint Michel, France

The impregnable castle of Mont Saint-Michel, surrounded on all sides by the sea, is one of the most popular attractions in France after Paris. Built in 709, it still looks stunning today.

Hochosterwitz Castle, Austria

The medieval castle Hochosterwitz was built in the distant IX century. Its towers still watch the surrounding area, proudly towering above it at an altitude of 160 m.And in sunny weather, they can be admired even at a distance of 30 km

Bled Castle, Slovenia

The castle is located on a hundred-meter cliff, threateningly hanging over Lake Bled. In addition to the magnificent view from the windows of the castle, this place has a rich history - here was the residence of the Serbian queen of the dynasty, and later of Marshal Josip Broz Tito

Hohenzollern Castle, Germany

This castle is located on the top of the Hohenzollern mountain, 2800 meters above sea level. During its heyday, the castle in this fortress was considered the residence of the Prussian emperors.

Barciense Castle, Spain

Barciense Castle in the Spanish province of Toledo was built in the 15th century by a local count. For 100 years, the castle served as a powerful artillery fortress, and today these empty walls attract only photographers and tourists.

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

The romantic castle of the Bavarian king Ludwig II was built in the middle of the 19th century, and at that time its architecture was considered very extravagant. Be that as it may, it was its walls that inspired the creators of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland.

Methoni Castle, Greece

Since the 14th century, the Venetian castle-fortress of Methoni was the center of battles and the last outpost of Europeans in this area in battles against the Turks who dreamed of capturing the Peloponnese. Today only ruins remain of the fortress.

Hohenschwangau Castle, Germany

This castle-fortress was built by the knights of Schwangau in the XII century and was the residence of many rulers, including the famous King Ludwig II, who received the composer Richard Wagner within these walls.

Chillon Castle, Switzerland

This medieval bastille looks like a warship from a bird's eye view. Rich story and the characteristic appearance of the castle have served as inspiration for many famous writers. In the 16th century, the castle was used as a state prison, as described by George Byron in his poem The Prisoner of Chillon.

Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland

The castle, located on a rocky island in the Loch Duich fjord, is one of the most romantic castles in Scotland, famous for its heather honey and legends. Many films were filmed here, but most importantly, the castle is open to visitors and everyone can touch the stones of its history.

Bodiam Castle, England

Since its founding in the 14th century, Bodiam Castle has experienced many owners, all of whom enjoyed fighting. Therefore, when Lord Curzon acquired it in 1917, only ruins remained of the castle. Fortunately, its walls were quickly restored, and now the castle is as good as new.

Guaita Castle, San Marino

The castle has been located on the top of the inaccessible mountain of Monte Titano since the 11th century and, together with two other towers, protects the oldest state in the world of San Marino.

Swallow's nest, Crimea

Initially, a small wooden house was located on the cliff of Cape Ai-Todor. And its current look "Swallow's Nest" got thanks to the oil industrialist Baron Steingel, who loved to relax in the Crimea. He decided to build a romantic castle that resembles medieval buildings on the banks of the Rhine river.

Stalker Castle, Scotland

Stalker Castle, which means "Falconer", was built in 1320 and belonged to the MacDougal clan. Since that time, its walls have experienced a huge number of strife and wars, which affected the state of the castle. In 1965, Colonel D.R.

Bran Castle, Romania

Bran Castle is the pearl of Transylvania, a mysterious museum-fort, where the famous legend of Count Dracula, the vampire, murderer and governor Vlad Tepes, was born. According to legend, he spent the night here during the periods of his campaigns, and the forest surrounding the Bran Castle was a favorite hunting ground for Tepes.

Vyborg castle, Russia

The Vyborg castle was founded by the Swedes in 1293, during one of the crusades to the Karelian land. It remained Scandinavian until 1710, when the troops of Peter I drove the Swedes far and away for a long time. Since that time, the castle has managed to be a warehouse, and a barracks, and even a prison for the Decembrists. And nowadays there is a museum here.

Cashel Castle, Ireland

Cashel Castle was the seat of the kings of Ireland for several hundred years before the Norman invasion. Here in the 5th century A.D. e. lived and preached Saint Patrick. The walls of the castle witnessed the bloody suppression of the revolution by the troops of Oliver Cromwell, who burned soldiers here alive. Since then, the castle has become a symbol of the brutality of the British, true courage and fortitude of the Irish.

Kilhurn Castle, Scotland

The very beautiful and even a little eerie ruins of Kilhurn Castle are located on the shores of the picturesque Lake Av. The history of this castle, unlike most castles in Scotland, proceeded quite calmly - numerous earls lived here, which replaced each other. In 1769 the building was damaged by a lightning strike, and soon it was finally abandoned, as it remains to this day.

Lichtenstein Castle, Germany

Built in the 12th century, this castle was destroyed several times. It was finally restored in 1884 and since then the castle has become a filming location for many films, including the film "The Three Musketeers".

Has led to a boom in castle construction, but the process of building a fortress from scratch is far from easy.

Bodiam Castle, East Sussex, founded in 1385

1) Carefully choose the place to build

It is imperative to build your castle on an elevated position and at a strategic point.

Castles were usually erected on natural elevations, and were usually equipped with a link to the external environment, such as a ford, bridge or passage.

Historians have rarely been able to find evidence of contemporaries regarding the choice of the site for the construction of the castle, but they still exist. On September 30, 1223, 15-year-old King Henry III arrived in Montgomery with his army. The king, who successfully conducted a military campaign against the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Iorvert, was going to build a new castle in this area to ensure security on the border of his possessions. The English carpenters were given the task of preparing the timber a month earlier, but the king's advisers had only now determined the place for the construction of the castle.



Montgomery Castle, when it began to be built in 1223, was located on a hill

After a careful survey of the area, they selected a point at the very edge of the ledge above the Severn valley. According to chronicler Roger Wendoversky, this position "looked impregnable to anyone." He also noted that the castle was created "for the safety of the region from the frequent attacks of the Welsh."

Advice: identify places where topography rises above transport routes: These are natural locations for castles. Keep in mind that the design of the castle is determined by the place of construction. For example, a castle will have a dry moat on a ledge of outcropping.

2) Have a workable plan

You will need a master bricklayer who can draw plans. An engineer who is versed in weapons will also come in handy.

Experienced soldiers may have their own ideas for the design of the castle, in terms of the shape of its buildings and their location. But they are unlikely to have knowledge of the level of specialists in design and construction.

To implement the idea required a master mason - an experienced builder, whose hallmark was the ability to draw a plan. Understanding practical geometry, he used simple tools such as a ruler, square, and compasses to create architectural plans. The master masons presented the drawing with the building plan for approval, and during the construction they supervised its construction.

When Edward II ordered the tower to be built at Narsborough, he personally approved plans and demanded construction reports.

When Edward II began in 1307 to build a huge residential tower at Narsborough Castle in Yorkshire for his favorite Pierce Gaveston, he not only personally approved the plan drawn up by the London master mason Hugh Tichmarshevsky - probably drawn in the form of a drawing - but also required regular construction reports. ... From the mid-16th century onwards, a new group of professionals called engineers increasingly began to take on a role in the development of plans and the construction of fortifications. They had the technical knowledge of the use and power of cannons, both for defense and for attacking castles.

Advice: Plan loopholes for a wide angle of attack. Shape them according to the weapon you use: archers with large bows need large slopes, crossbowmen need smaller ones.

3) Hire a large group of experienced workers

You will need thousands of people. And not necessarily all of them will come of their own free will.

Great efforts were required to build the castle. We do not have documentary evidence of the construction of the first castles in England since 1066, but from the scale of many castles of that period it becomes clear why some chronicles claim that the British were under the yoke of building castles for their Norman conquerors. But from the later time of the Middle Ages, some estimates with detailed information have come down to us.

During the invasion of Wales in 1277, King Edward I began building a castle in Flint, northeastern Wales. It was erected quickly, thanks to the rich resources of the crown. A month after the start of work, in August, 2,300 people were involved in the construction, including 1270 excavators, 320 woodcutters, 330 carpenters, 200 masons, 12 blacksmiths and 10 coal burners. All of them were driven from the surrounding lands under an armed escort, who made sure that they did not defect from the construction.

Periodically, foreign specialists could be involved in the construction. For example, millions of bricks for the rebuilding of Tattershall Castle in Lincolnshire in the 1440s were installed by a certain Baldwin "Docheman", or Dutchman, that is, "Dutchman" - obviously a foreigner.

Advice: depending on the size of the workforce and the distance it has traveled, it may be necessary to provide them with accommodation at the construction site.

4) Ensure the safety of the construction site

An unfinished castle on enemy territory is very vulnerable to attacks.

To build a castle on enemy territory, you need to defend the construction site from attacks. For example, you can enclose a construction site with wooden fortifications or a low stone wall. Such medieval defense systems sometimes remained after the construction of the building as an additional wall - for example, in the castle of Bomaris, the construction of which began in 1295.

Bomaris (English Beaumaris, Wall. Biwmares) is a city on the island of Anglesey, Wales.

Safe communication with the outside world is also important for the delivery of building materials and provisions. In 1277, Edward I dug a canal to the Kluid River directly from the sea and to the site of his new castle in Rüdlan. The outer wall, built to protect the construction site, extended to the quays on the banks of the river.

Rüdlan castle

Security problems can also arise during a radical reconstruction of an existing castle. When Henry II was rebuilding Dover Castle in the 1180s, the work was carefully planned out so that the fortifications would provide protection for the duration of the renovation. According to the surviving decrees, work on the inner wall of the castle began only when the tower had already been sufficiently renovated for a guard to be on duty.

Advice: Building materials for the construction of the castle are large and voluminous. If possible, it is best to transport them by water, even if it requires building a dock or canal.

5) Prepare the landscape

When building a castle, you may have to move an impressive amount of land, which is expensive.

It is often forgotten that the fortifications of the castle were built not only at the expense of architectural techniques, but also at the expense of landscape design. Huge resources were allocated to move land. The scale of the Normans' earthworks can be considered outstanding. For example, according to some estimates, the embankment erected in 1100 around Pleshi Castle in Essex took 24,000 man-days.

Several aspects of the landscape work required serious skills, especially the creation of ditches. When Edward I rebuilt the Tower of London in the 1270s, he hired a foreign expert, Walter Flandersky, to create a huge tidal ditch. Ditching under his direction cost £ 4,000, a staggering amount, almost a quarter of the cost of the entire project.

18th century engraving with plan Tower of London 1597 shows how much land had to be moved to build ditches and ramparts.

With the increasing role of cannons in the art of siege, the earth began to play an even more important role as an absorber of cannon shots. Interestingly, experience in moving large amounts of land has allowed some fortification engineers to find work as a garden designer.

Advice: Reduce time and costs by excavating masonry for the castle walls from the moats around it.

6) lay the foundation

Carefully bring the mason's plan to life.

By using ropes of the correct length and pegs it was possible to mark the foundation of a building on the ground in full size. After the foundation ditches were dug, work began on the masonry. To save money, the responsibility for the construction was assigned to the senior bricklayer instead of the master bricklayer. In the Middle Ages, clutches were usually measured in childbirth, one English genus = 5.03 m. In Workworth, Northumberland, one of the most complex bachets stands on a lattice of genera, possibly for the purpose of calculating construction costs.

Warkworth Castle

Often the construction of medieval castles was accompanied by detailed documentation. In 1441-42, the tower of Tatbury Castle in Staffordshire was destroyed and a plan for its successor was drawn up on the ground. But the Prince of Stafford, for some reason, was dissatisfied. The king's master mason, Robert of Westerley, was sent to Tatbury, where he held a meeting with two senior masons to design a new tower at a new location. Westerley then left, and over the next eight years, a small group of workers, including four junior bricklayers, built the new tower.

Senior masons could be recruited to validate the quality of the work, as was the case at Cooling Castle in Kent when the royal mason Heinrich Hewel evaluated the work carried out from 1381 to 1384. He criticized the deviations from the original plan and rounded down the estimate.

Advice: don't be fooled by the master mason. Get him to make a plan that makes it easy to budget.

7) fortify your castle

Finish the building with sophisticated fortifications and specialized timber structures.

Until the 12th century, the fortifications of most castles consisted of earth and logs. And although later the preference was given to stone buildings, wood remained a very important material in medieval wars and fortifications.

Stone castles were prepared for attacks by adding special battle galleries along the walls, as well as shutters that could close the gaps between the battlements to protect the defenders of the castle. All this was made of wood. Heavy weapons used to defend the castle, catapults and heavy crossbows, springalds were also built of wood. The artillery was usually developed by a highly paid professional carpenter, sometimes bore the title of engineer, from the Latin "ingeniator".

Storming the castle, drawing of the 15th century

Such experts were not cheap, but could cost their weight in gold as a result. This, for example, happened in 1266, when Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire resisted Henry III for almost six months with catapults and water defenses.

There are records of camp castles made entirely of wood - they could be transported with you and erected as needed. One such was built for the French invasion of England in 1386, but the Calais garrison captured it along with the ship. It was described as consisting of a wall of logs 20 feet high and 3,000 paces long. Every 12 steps there was a 30-foot tower capable of sheltering up to 10 soldiers, and the castle also had unspecified protection for riflemen.

Advice: Oak wood gets stronger over the years and is easiest to work with when it is green. The upper branches of the trees are easy to transport and shape.

8) Provide water and drainage

Don't forget about the "amenities." You will appreciate them in case of a siege.

The most important aspect for the castle was efficient access to water. These could be wells supplying water to certain buildings, for example, a kitchen or a stable. Without a detailed acquaintance with the medieval well mines, it is difficult to give them their due. For example, at Beeston Castle in Cheshire, there is a well 100 m deep, the top 60 m of which is lined with hewn stone.

There is some evidence that complex plumbing systems existed to bring water to the apartment. The tower of Dover Castle has a lead pipe system that brings water to the rooms. It was fed from a well with a winch, and possibly from a rainwater harvesting system.

Effective disposal of human waste was another challenge for the castle designers. Lavatories were collected in one place in buildings so that their shafts were emptied in one place. They were housed in short corridors that trapped unpleasant odors and were often equipped with wooden seats and removable covers.

Thought room at Chipchase Castle

It is now widely believed that toilets used to be called "wardrobes." In fact, the vocabulary for toilets was vast and colorful. They were called gongs or gangs (from the Anglo-Saxon word for "place to go"), nooks and crannies and jakes (French for "john").

Advice: Ask the master mason to plan out comfortable and secluded latrines outside the bedroom, following the example of Henry II and Dover Castle.

9) Decorate as needed

The castle should not only be well guarded - its inhabitants, possessing a high status, demanded a certain chic.

During war, the castle must be protected - but it also serves luxury home... The noble gentlemen of the Middle Ages expected their dwelling to be both comfortable and richly furnished. In the Middle Ages, these citizens traveled with servants, things and furniture from one residence to another. But home interiors often had fixed decorative features, such as stained glass windows.

Henry III's tastes in the setting are recorded very carefully, with interesting and engaging details. In 1235-36, for example, he ordered that his hall at Winchester Castle be decorated with images of the world map and the wheel of fortune. Since then, these decorations have not survived, but the well-known King Arthur Round Table, created possibly between 1250 and 1280, remains in the interior.

Winchester Castle with King Arthur's round table hanging on the wall

The large area of ​​the castles played an important role in the luxurious life. The parks were created for hunting, a jealously guarded privilege of the aristocrats; gardens were also in demand. The surviving description of the construction of Kirby Maxloe Castle in Leicestershire says that its owner, Lord Hastings, began to lay out the gardens at the very beginning of the construction of the castle in 1480.

In the Middle Ages, rooms with beautiful views were also loved. One of the thirteenth-century groups of rooms in the castles of Leeds in Kent, Corfe in Dorset and Chepstow in Monmothshire was named gloriettes (from the French gloriette - diminutive of glory) for their magnificence.

Advice: The interior of the castle should be luxurious enough to attract visitors and friends. Entertainment can win battles without having to expose oneself to the dangers of combat.

The Middle Ages in Europe were a turbulent time. Feudal lords on any occasion arranged small wars among themselves - or rather, not even wars, but, in modern language, armed "showdowns". If a neighbor had money, it had to be taken away.

Lots of land and peasants? This is simply indecent, because God commanded to share. And if knightly honor is offended, then here it was simply impossible to do without a small victorious war.

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

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

Beaumari Castle, owned by Edward I.

welcome

We make our way to the castle, which stands on a ledge of a mountain slope at the edge of a fertile valley. The road goes through a small settlement - one of those that usually grew up near the fortress wall. Simple 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".

The scheme of castle structures. Note - there are two gate towers, the largest one stands separately.

The first obstacle is a deep ditch, and in front of it is a shaft of excavated earth. The moat can be transverse (separating the castle wall from the plateau), or crescent-shaped, curved forward. If the landscape permits, the moat surrounds the entire castle in a circle.

The bottom near the ditches could be V-shaped and U-shaped (the latter is the most common). If the soil under the castle is rocky, then the ditches were either not made at all, or they were cut down to a shallow depth that only impedes the advance of the infantry (it is almost impossible to dig under the castle wall in the rock - therefore the depth of the ditch 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 made 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 the last section of it (right next to the wall) is movable.

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

Counterweights on the gate lift.

This drawbridge is designed so that in an upright position it covers the gate. The bridge is propelled by mechanisms hidden in the building above them. Ropes or chains run from the bridge to the hoisting machines through the wall openings. To facilitate the work of the people serving the bridge mechanism, the ropes were sometimes equipped with heavy counterweights, which took some 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, blocking the entrance to the castle, the outer one (which sometimes the attackers had already managed to run into) sank down into the moat, where the so-called "wolf's pit" was arranged (sharp stakes dug into the ground), invisible from the side, while the bridge is down.

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

The gates are the most vulnerable part of the castle, usually they were not made directly in its wall, but were arranged in the so-called "gate towers". Most often, the gates were double-winged, and the gates were hammered together from two layers of boards. To protect them from arson from the outside, they were upholstered with iron. At the same time, in one of the doors there was a small narrow door, through which one could only be bent 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 crossbeam could also be inserted into hook-like slots in the walls. Its main purpose was to protect the gate from being dropped by attackers.

There was usually a descending grate behind the gate. Most often it was made of wood, with the lower ends bound with iron. But there were also iron gratings made of steel four-sided rods. The lattice could descend from a gap in the arch of the portal of the gate, or be behind them (from the inside of the overhead tower), dropping along the grooves in the walls.

The lattice hung on ropes or chains, which in case of danger could be chopped off so that it quickly fell down, blocking the path of the invaders.

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

All on the wall!

Zwinger at Laneck Castle.

A gallery for defense soldiers ran along the top of the wall. From the outside of the castle, they were protected by a solid parapet half a man's height, on which stone battlements were regularly located. Behind them you could stand at full height and, for example, load a crossbow. The shape of the teeth was extremely varied - rectangular, rounded, in the form of a swallow's tail, decoratively decorated. In some castles, the galleries were covered (wooden canopy) to protect the warriors from bad weather.

A special type of loophole is a ball loop. 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 very rarely installed in the walls - 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 erected 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 facilities. The inner sides of such towers (facing the castle courtyard) were usually left open so that the enemy who burst into the wall could not gain a foothold inside them.

Flanking corner tower.

Castle from the inside

The internal structure of the locks was diverse. In addition to the aforementioned zwingers, behind the main gate there could be a small rectangular courtyard with loopholes in the walls - a kind of "trap" for the attackers. At times, castles consisted of several “sections” separated by inner 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 “donjon”.

Donjon at the Vincennes castle.

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

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

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

Kitchen in the Marksburg castle.

There was sometimes a very high shaft inside the tower, going from top to bottom. She 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” (German - frightening hole). Depending on the purpose of the mine, the winch lowered prisoners or provisions there.

If there were no prison rooms 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 anywhere in the castle.

Of course, they were taken prisoner, first of all, to obtain a ransom or to use the prisoner in a political game. Therefore, VIPs were provided according to the highest class - guarded chambers in the tower were allocated for their maintenance. This is exactly how Friedrich the Handsome "spent his term" in Trausnitz castle on Pfeimd and Richard the Lionheart in Trifels.

Chamber at Marksburg Castle.

The tower of the Abenberg castle (12th century) in section.

At the base of the tower there was a basement, 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 iron baskets with coals were placed further along the hall). Above were the chambers of the feudal lord's family, heated by small stoves.

Sometimes the donjon did not serve as living quarters. It could well be used only for military-economic purposes (observation posts on the tower, dungeon, food storage). In such cases, the family of the feudal lord 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 knightly hall for celebrations. It was very cold in the donjons and rugs. The fireplace heating helped, 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 nature 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 sanctuary in winter left people with a unique experience.

Large temples had two floors. The commoners prayed below, and the gentlemen gathered in a warm (sometimes glazed) choir on the second tier. The decoration of such rooms 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 refuge (along with the keep).

War on land and underground

To capture the castle, it was required to isolate it - that is, to block all routes for the supply of food. That is why the attacking armies were much larger than the defending ones - about 150 people (this is true for the war of the middle feudal lords).

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

The attackers had no less problems. The siege of castles sometimes stretched out for years (for example, the German Turant defended from 1245 to 1248), so the question of the rear supply of an army of several hundred people arose especially acute.

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

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

The war against castles had its own specifics. After all, any more or less high stone fortification represented a serious obstacle for ordinary armies. Direct infantry attacks on the fortress could well have been crowned with success, which, however, came at the cost of great sacrifices.

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

The excavations were made for two purposes - 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 Altwindstein castle in Northern Alsace in 1332, a sapper brigade of 80 (!) People took advantage of the diversionary 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 fortress.

If the castle wall was not too large and had an unreliable one, then a tunnel broke through under its base, the walls of which were reinforced with wooden struts. Then 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 to pieces.

Curious devices were used to detect the trenches. For example, large copper bowls with balls inside were placed throughout the castle. If a ball in any bowl began to tremble, it was a sure sign that a tunnel was under way nearby.

But the main argument in the attack on the castle was siege machines - catapults and battering rams.

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

A type of catapult is a trebuchet.

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

Storming the castle with a mobile tower.

In addition to the usual ram, pendulum ones were also used. They were fixed on high mobile frames with a canopy and were a log suspended from 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 the ram and tried to lift it up, depriving it of mobility. Sometimes a gape soldier could get caught on such hooks.

Having overcome the rampart, breaking the palisades and filling up the moat, the attackers either stormed the castle using stairs or used tall wooden towers, the upper platform of which was level with the wall (or even higher). These giant structures doused with water to avoid arson by the defenders and rolled up to the castle on the flooring of the boards. A heavy platform was thrown onto the wall. The assault group climbed up the inner staircase, went out onto the platform and with a fight invaded the gallery of the fortress wall. This usually meant that in a couple of minutes the lock would be taken.

Silent glanders

Sapa (from the French sape, literally - a hoe, saper - to dig) - a method of fragments of a ditch, trench or tunnel to approach its fortifications, used in the 16-19 centuries. Known flap (quiet, secretive) and flying glanders. The work was carried out with a cross-over ditch from the bottom of the initial ditch without the workers coming to the surface, and the volatile work was carried out from the surface of the earth under the cover of a previously prepared protective embankment made of barrels and sacks of earth. In the second half of the 17th century, engineers appeared in the armies of a number of countries to carry out such work.

The expression to act "quietly" means: sneak, walk slowly, unnoticed, penetrate somewhere.

Fights on the stairs of the castle

From one floor of the tower, one could get to another only by 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 walked first could only rely on his own ability to fight, for the steepness of the turn of the loop was selected in such a way that it was impossible to act with a spear or long sword from behind the leader. Therefore, the battles on the stairs were reduced to a single combat between the defenders of the castle and one of the attackers. Precisely the defenders, because they could easily replace each other, since a special extended area was located behind them.

Samurai castles

The least we know about exotic castles - for example, Japanese.

Stone castles began to be built at the end of the 16th century, taking into account European achievements in fortification. An indispensable feature of the Japanese castle is the 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, lake, 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 structures were located around the honmaru central square, on which the feudal lord's palace and the high central tenshukaku tower were erected. The latter consisted of several, gradually decreasing upward, rectangular tiers with protruding tiled roofs and pediments.

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

The charm of antiquity

French castle Saumur (14th century miniature).

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Nestled among the green hills of Baden-Württemberg and crowning the old medieval town Heidelberg, Heidelberg medieval castle, is an one of the most wonderful romantic sights in Germany. The first mention of the castle dates back to 1225. The ruins of the castle are one of the most important structures of the Renaissance tonorth of the Alps. Long years Heidelberg Castle wasresidence of the countsPalatine, who were accountable only to the emperor.

2. Hohensalzburg Castle (Austria)

One of the largest medieval castles in Europe, located on Mount Festung, at an altitude of 120 meters, next to Salzburg. During its existence, Hohensalzburg Castle was repeatedly rebuilt and fortified, gradually turning into a powerful, impregnable fortress.In the 19th century, the castle was used as a warehouse, military barracks and a prison. The first mention of the castle dates back to the 10th century.

3. Bran Castle (Romania)

Located almost in the center of Romania, this medieval castle gained its worldwide fame thanks to Hollywood, it is believed that Count Dracula lived in this castle. Lock is a national monument and main attractionRomania. The first mention of the castle dates back to the 13th century.

4. Castle of Segovia (Spain)

This majestic stone fortress is located near the city of Segovia in Spain and is one of the most famous castles of the Iberian Peninsula. It was his special shape that inspired Walt Disney to recreate Cinderella's castle in his cartoon. Alcazar (castle) was originally built as a fortress, but served in quality royal palace, a prison, the royal school of artillery and the military academy. Currently used as museum and the storage places of the military archives of Spain. The first mention of the castle dates back to 1120, it was built during the reign of the Berber dynasty.

5. Dunstanborough Castle (England)

The castle was built by the countThomas Lancasterbetween 1313 and 1322 at a time when the relationship between King Edward II and his vassal, Baron Thomas Lancaster, became overtly hostile. In 1362 Dunstanborough took over John of Ghent , the fourth son of the king Edward III , who significantly rebuilt the castle. During Wars of the Scarlet and White Rose the Lancaster citadel came under fire, as a result of which the castle was destroyed.

6. Cardiff Castle (Wales)

Situated in the heart of Cardiff City, this medieval castle is one of the most defining landmarks in the capital of Wales. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century on the site of the former fort of the 3rd century Roman Empire.

This medieval castle dominates the skylineEdinburgh, capital of Scotland. The historical origins of the formidable Edinburgh Castle on the cliff are shrouded in mystery, it is mentioned in the epics of the 6th century, appear in the annals, before finally coming to the fore in Scottish history when Edinburgh established itself as a seat of monarchical power in the 12th century.

One of the most visited sites in southern Ireland, it is also one of the most pristine examples of medieval fortification in the world. Blarney Castle is the third fortress built on this site. The first building was made of wood and dates back to the 10th century. Around 1210, a stone fortress was built in its place. Subsequently, it was destroyed and in 1446 Dermot McCarthy, ruler of Munster, built the third castle on this site, which has survived to this day.

The medieval castle of Castel Nuovo was built first king of Naples, Charles I of Anjou, Castel Nuovois one of the most famous landmarks of the city.With its thick walls, majestic towers and impressive triumphal arch, it is the quintessential medieval castle.

10. Conwy Castle (England)

The castle is a magnificent example of architecture of the XIII century, it was built by order of King Edward I of England. It is surrounded by a stone wall with eight round towers. Until now, only the castle walls have survived, but they also look very impressive. Many huge fireplaces were used to heat the castle.