This Is What 7 Castles Across Europe Looked Like Before Falling Into Ruins
In times of quarantine, we can’t travel, but no one has canceled virtual exploration, right? So we will take you on a journey through Europe’s most magnificent medieval castles that hold centuries of incredibly rich history in their ruins. Most of the beautiful castles have fallen into disrepair after years of war and reconciliation and we are now left with only silhouettes of their past glory.
Budget Direct collaborated with graphic designers and architects to rebuild seven of the most famous castles across Europe to their former mighty beauty with the help of these digital architectural 3D renders and reconstruction animations.
“As efforts to contain the effects of the COVID-19 crisis ramp up, millions of people across the globe are stuck at home. This project offers a slice of escapism and much-needed armchair travel inspiration,” said representatives at Budget Direct.
More info: budgetdirect.com.au
Samobor Castle, Samobor, Croatia
Image credits: budgetdirect
Image credits: budgetdirect
The Kingdom of Bohemia was a medieval European monarchy that ruled over the parts of the modern-day Czech Republic and Germany from the end of the 12th century until the First World War. The Bohemian ruler Ottokar built Samobar Castle in the mid-13th century, during a war over the disputed Duchy of Styria. But he soon lost it to Croatian-Hungarian forces.
Today, the medieval architecture fortress peers down over the roofs of modern-day Samobor. It is just a 10-minute walk from town and visitors can still marvel at the walls and remains of the moat. The only surviving original element is the guard tower. Much of the rest of the remains, including the gothic chapel of St. Ana, are from 16th-century modifications.
Image credits: budgetdirect
Château Gaillard, Les Andelys, France
Image credits: budgetdirect
Image credits: budgetdirect
Château Gaillard is an early example of the use of concentric fortification and machicolation in castle design. Machicolation refers to floor openings in battlements, through which defenders could drop boiling oil or rocks on their attackers. This concentric fortification was formed of three defensive baileys, one inside the other and each separated by dry moats.
Richard the Lionheart built Gaillard very quickly between 1196 and 1198 to defend against Philip II of France. The castle saw a lot of action before finally being abandoned in the 16th century and later demolished by Henry IV of France. However, elements of the outer castle remain, and you can still admire the uniquely ribbed walls of the inner bailey.
Image credits: budgetdirect
Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven, Scotland
Image credits: budgetdirect
Image credits: budgetdirect
Dunnottar is a promontory fort. It is perched on a ‘sea girt’ looking out into the North Sea from the east coast of Scotland. The castle has played a pivotal role in tensions between the English and the Scottish over the years. Most famously, William ‘Braveheart’ Wallace besieged and retook the castle from the English in 1297 (it is a key location in the 1990 movie).
The castle was later besieged by Oliver Cromwell. The Scottish crown jewels were smuggled to safety – either ‘up the jumper’ of a pregnant woman, or over the seaward-facing walls, depending on who you ask. One of the most dominant remains on the 1.4-hectare site is the 14th-century Tower House. This uniquely Scottish feature was a kind of fortified mansion that once stood three stories high.
Image credits: budgetdirect
Menlo Castle, Galway City, Ireland
Image credits: budgetdirect
Image credits: budgetdirect
Menlo Castle was owned for most of its existence by the Blake family and destroyed by fire in 1910. The family coachman, James Kirwan, escaped the flames by climbing down from his window on ivy vines. He tried to rescue the other inhabitants, but young Eleanor Blake perished in the fire, as did a maid who leapt to her death. Since the day the castle was ruined, that same green hanging ivy has grown to cover the entire building.
Visiting Menlo is a fairy-tale experience, as the vines camouflage the building in the natural landscape of the surrounding woods and fields. It is not known when the castle was first built, but it was primarily a domestic rather than military use. Large round towers and a former pier that held a cannon and telescope provided security for the inhabitants.
Image credits: budgetdirect
Olsztyn Castle, Olsztyn, Poland
Image credits: budgetdirect
Image credits: budgetdirect
Olsztyn Castle is set on a dramatically bumpy hill among limestone rocks, overlooking Łyna River in northeastern Poland. The castle was built sometime before 1306. It was expanded by Casimir the Great between 1349-59 to defend against the Czechs. Olsztyn later gained a military garrison and was renovated in the Renaissance style in the 16th century.
At that point, it was built on three levels with drawbridge entrances and a moat. In the following years, however, the Hapsburgs and then the Swedes caused significant damage, and the castle fell out of use. Today, visitors can still see the original gothic tower and explore the ingenious manner in which the built elements integrate the area’s rocks and karst caves.
Image credits: budgetdirect
Spiš Castle, Spišské Podhradie, Slovakia
Image credits: budgetdirect
Image credits: budgetdirect
Covering a four-hectare area, Spiš Castle is one of the world’s largest castle complexes. Its magnitude served the purpose of a border fortress in the feudal Hungarian Kingdom. The castle later changed hands several times between empires and aristocratic families who used it as a mansion. It was owned by the Csák family and in decline when fire finally ruined the building in 1780, perhaps the result of a lightning strike.
Today, Spiš Castle is UNESCO-listed. Its expanse and geographic setting make it ideal for walking and photography. Conservationists began work several decades ago to protect the medieval building from the threat of unstable bedrock under the foundations. A 100m2 geoglyph (stone pattern in the landscape) of a horse from a Celtic coin design now stands imposingly on the hill below the silhouette of the castle.
Image credits: budgetdirect
Poenari Castle (Poenari Fortress), Valachia, Romania
Image credits: budgetdirect
Image credits: budgetdirect
Legendary Poenari Castle is so adorned with inspiring details that it feels like it came from a storybook. Indeed, it once belonged to Vlad the Impaler, the Voivode (Duke) of Wallachia, who inspired Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula. Climbing the 1,480 concrete stairs to the clifftop castle’s eagle nest position creates an uneasy sense of isolation. And it is easy to get giddy at such a height, especially in the knowledge that the ruins are partly due to a landslide that dragged the towers down to the river 400 metres below.
But Poenari needn’t be where visitors meet their doom. Vlad himself escaped attack through a secret passageway and into the Carpathian Mountains. The fortress itself was originally built directly into the rock and fortified with earth or lime, and Vlad rebuilt it with extra towers for defense. As a final fearsome detail, the castle is currently closed because of local bears – but it will re-open soon, possibly with a crémaillère tram to lift visitors up from the valley.
Image credits: budgetdirect
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Share on FacebookThis was a great article! I have often wondered what the ruined castles of today looked like in all their glory
Really enjoyed this. It's impossible for me to imagine how these were built given the isolated locations using only man and horsepower.
They weren't. They were built with ropes, pulleys, cranes and levers. They had the wheel, understood basic physics, and used pulleys to lift and move the giant rocks. Pulleys have been around for almost 3500 years.
Load More Replies...More like these! I love seeing what buildings/ruins/etc. looked like in their heyday. Honestly, it was one of my favorite parts of taking Latin.
Great animation. I wonder why such amazing buildings are left to ruin -especially if the damage is from fire. Seems like such a waste.
Very expensive to repair. No one wants the responsibility. Plus all that high grade stone is worth a fortune. Many slightly ruined castles are looted for building materials, or even sold with that in mind. Then of course, when states were centralising power in the 17th and 18th century a lot of castles had key features 'slighted' to make them indefensible, should rebels seize them.
Load More Replies...Fun fact here. There are at least 2 cities in Poland called 'Olsztyn'. The one that you see on this list and the other that have castle too! And it was place where Nicolaus Copernicus lived :) Check this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olsztyn_Castle
Please excuse my ignorance, how do they know what the castles looked like originally?
I've recently been involved in reconstructing a castle. We were able to read descriptions written by medieval visitors, look at other surviving castles built by the same architect, find illustrations made in the 18th century, look at Victorian surveys and use a radar to find out where foundations survive underground.
Load More Replies...In my birthplace Kessel (the Netherlands) is a castle named 'de Keverberg'. It was destroyed in WW2 and was a ruin until recently. It was too expensive to rebuild it the same as it used to be but with financial help of some the villagers (they became 'Knights of the castle') it was rebuild in a modern way. It's one of a kind and you either like it or not. (Personally I preferred de ruin more.)
I always winder about the people whose job it was to roof those pointy spires. That must have been hella scary without the modern equipment we use now!! I've known people who do roofs similar to those and it's no picnic.
They look so new and lifelike! Next we need to add people walking around, and some horses! And farms. And knights.
Guys, the Olsztyn Castle is in Olsztyn, but not in the north-eastern part of Poland, and the Łyna is not the correct name of river. There are two Olsztyns in Poland - the city with Łyna river on the north-east and the village on Silesia in the south-west. And the castle you put here is from the latter.
All info about Olsztyn castle above is wrong. There are two different Olsztyn towns in Poland and each of them has a different castle. The author mixed these two up completely.
You got the wrong Olsztyn! This castle is in a small town near Częstochowa in the south of Poland, not in the city in the north.
Olsztyn castle is not and never was in northeastern Poland 😳. Was built on southwest border!!!
It is interesting how they used rock formations to build the castle into the ground. Making it fortified from attack
I love this kind of stuff--especially when I am touring historic sites. Ruins--on their own--don't impress me much.
Not a single castle from Wales? Literally the country with the highest ratio of castles per sq km?
Wait? Bears at Poenari Castle? I went there years ago when few people did. Didn't realize I was tempting fate. I shall have to bear this in mind if I visit again.
This is bringing me back to my memories of Ireland. ;_; All the castles that lay hidden in the woods, partially destroyed by time. They are so fascinating to me.
This was a great article! I have often wondered what the ruined castles of today looked like in all their glory
Really enjoyed this. It's impossible for me to imagine how these were built given the isolated locations using only man and horsepower.
They weren't. They were built with ropes, pulleys, cranes and levers. They had the wheel, understood basic physics, and used pulleys to lift and move the giant rocks. Pulleys have been around for almost 3500 years.
Load More Replies...More like these! I love seeing what buildings/ruins/etc. looked like in their heyday. Honestly, it was one of my favorite parts of taking Latin.
Great animation. I wonder why such amazing buildings are left to ruin -especially if the damage is from fire. Seems like such a waste.
Very expensive to repair. No one wants the responsibility. Plus all that high grade stone is worth a fortune. Many slightly ruined castles are looted for building materials, or even sold with that in mind. Then of course, when states were centralising power in the 17th and 18th century a lot of castles had key features 'slighted' to make them indefensible, should rebels seize them.
Load More Replies...Fun fact here. There are at least 2 cities in Poland called 'Olsztyn'. The one that you see on this list and the other that have castle too! And it was place where Nicolaus Copernicus lived :) Check this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olsztyn_Castle
Please excuse my ignorance, how do they know what the castles looked like originally?
I've recently been involved in reconstructing a castle. We were able to read descriptions written by medieval visitors, look at other surviving castles built by the same architect, find illustrations made in the 18th century, look at Victorian surveys and use a radar to find out where foundations survive underground.
Load More Replies...In my birthplace Kessel (the Netherlands) is a castle named 'de Keverberg'. It was destroyed in WW2 and was a ruin until recently. It was too expensive to rebuild it the same as it used to be but with financial help of some the villagers (they became 'Knights of the castle') it was rebuild in a modern way. It's one of a kind and you either like it or not. (Personally I preferred de ruin more.)
I always winder about the people whose job it was to roof those pointy spires. That must have been hella scary without the modern equipment we use now!! I've known people who do roofs similar to those and it's no picnic.
They look so new and lifelike! Next we need to add people walking around, and some horses! And farms. And knights.
Guys, the Olsztyn Castle is in Olsztyn, but not in the north-eastern part of Poland, and the Łyna is not the correct name of river. There are two Olsztyns in Poland - the city with Łyna river on the north-east and the village on Silesia in the south-west. And the castle you put here is from the latter.
All info about Olsztyn castle above is wrong. There are two different Olsztyn towns in Poland and each of them has a different castle. The author mixed these two up completely.
You got the wrong Olsztyn! This castle is in a small town near Częstochowa in the south of Poland, not in the city in the north.
Olsztyn castle is not and never was in northeastern Poland 😳. Was built on southwest border!!!
It is interesting how they used rock formations to build the castle into the ground. Making it fortified from attack
I love this kind of stuff--especially when I am touring historic sites. Ruins--on their own--don't impress me much.
Not a single castle from Wales? Literally the country with the highest ratio of castles per sq km?
Wait? Bears at Poenari Castle? I went there years ago when few people did. Didn't realize I was tempting fate. I shall have to bear this in mind if I visit again.
This is bringing me back to my memories of Ireland. ;_; All the castles that lay hidden in the woods, partially destroyed by time. They are so fascinating to me.
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