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!

AIRTHREY CASTLE SCOTLAND BUILT 1791

ALCAZAR CASTLESEGOVIA SPAINSTARTED IN 12th CENTURY

AMBOISE CASTLE LOIRE VALLEY-FRANCE STARTED IN 15th CENTURY

ARAGONESE CASTLEISCHIA ITALY

STARTED IN 1438

ARUNDEL CASTLENORFOLK ENGLANDSTARTED IN 11th CENTURY

BAMBURGH CASTLENORTHUMBERLAND ENGLANDSTARTED 6th CENTURY

BERWICK CASTLEENGLAND 12th CENTURY

BLED CASTLESLOVENIASTARTED 1004

CHAMBORD CASTLE LOIRE FRANCE 13th CENTURY

BODIAM CASTLE SCOTLAND STARTED IN 12th CENTURY

BONAGUIL CASTLEGARONNE FRANCESTARTED IN 1250

BOJNICE CASTLECROATIA12tH CENTURY

BRAN (DRACULA) CASTLEROMANIA STARTED 1212

BRETESCHE CASTLE FRANCE 15tH CENTURY

BUNRATTY CASTLE IRELAND STARTED IN 1425

CAERNARFON CASTLE WALES

STARTED IN 1283

CARDIFF CASTLE WALES 12th CENTURY

CAWDORL CASTLE SCOTLAND 14tH CENTURY

CHAMBORD CASTLELOIRE FRANCE16th CENTURY

CHANTILLY CASTLEPARIS SUBURBS FRANCE 1719

CHAMONT CASTLELOIRE FRANCE15th CENTURY

CHENONCEAU CASTLELOIRE FRANCE STARTED IN 1430

CHILLON CASTLESWITZERLANDSTARTED 9th CENTURY

CLIFDEN CASTLE IRELANDBUILT IN 1812

COCHEM CASTLE GERMANY 1354

COMTAL CASTLECARCASSONNE FRANCESTARTED IN 1130

DE HAAR CASTLENETHERLANDS 14th CENTURY

DOBROVIN CASTLESCOTLANDSTARTED 15th CENTURY

DUNGUAIRE CASTLEIRELAND 1520

MY TYPE OF VACATION! YOUR TYPE OF VACATION?

GET UP AND GO VISIT SOME PLACE!

Presentation by Dan Calistrat dcalistrat@aol.comPictures from InternetEnd of part 1of 3