Best Castles & Palaces of Europe

[Ji-Ja-Jot]

Originally Posted by charpentier

Burg Eltz, Germany, is amazing isn't it ?

image hosted on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23215539@N04/2727485773/

best in the world - by far. Thread can be closed.

[NorthLimitation]

Originally Posted by erbse

Lots of them are situated in amazing settings indeed. Greece and Italy are the ones that could compete in this regard, but not when it comes to architecture.



You remind me of that Little Britain dude Lou. You most probably look very similar.

So this thread has really just turned into 'Why Germany is amazing but everywhere else in Europe is pretty shit' has it?

[pamirez]

many beautiful castles in this thread...but Hohenzollern Castle is my favorite =)

[Langur]

Originally Posted by charpentier

image hosted on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kapormes/3777175652/

This one is magnificent.

[Langur]

Carcassonne. Scroll >>>

[Kampflamm]

2 shots I took of Burg Eltz a couple of years ago

[erbse]

Originally Posted by NorthLimitation

So this thread has really just turned into 'Why Germany is amazing but everywhere else in Europe is pretty shit' has it?

Undoubtedly. Why always feel inferior when you can feel superior in this regard?


It's like discussing whether you prefer French or German cars.

[NorthLimitation]

Originally Posted by erbse

Undoubtedly. Why always feel inferior when you can feel superior in this regard?


It's like discussing whether you prefer French or German cars.

But of course people have different opinions, that's why it's best not to right off entire countries. You may prefer German castles, I may prefer French and that's fair enough, but to recognise that there may be a beauty that is visable to others but not to you is the best way to go. All these 'no where comes close' style posts are just such a waste of time. To me, Scottish scenery is just as good as German scenery because it is such a rare form of geology, but I'm not going to ignore the beauty of Germanic castles, even if it isn't really my thing.

[erbse]

I don't ignore anything and I admire Britain scenery and castles as well.
You guys still didn't get my point about architectural variety it seems.
Of course opinions differ.


And you obviously should take my last post with a pinch of salt, eh

[NorthLimitation]

Originally Posted by erbse

I don't ignore anything and I admire Britain scenery and castles as well.
You guys still didn't get my point about architectural variety it seems.
Of course opinions differ.


And you obviously should take my last post with a pinch of salt, eh

Your argument of 'Britain' is false though, there is not one 'British' architectural style in castles but a variety, partly because Britain is made up of four different countries. It's this very basic concept that you don't seem to understand, there's a huge variety within the term Britain.

Maybe it's just your English and this entire thing is just lost in translation.

[erbse]

That's the most upsetting thing about it all - Britain consists of four different countries, yet there are rather marginal differences in architecture. Especially when talking about material and ornamental matters.

There's nuffin' lost in translation, bro.

[Langur]

I think there's more variety in British castles than German. We've got prettied up Romantic spires and turrets (especially the Scottish Baronial style), often in gorgeous locations, but unlike Germany we've also the real deal, the massive Norman military castles of England and Wales.

German castles have a nice fairytale look, but they're all variations on a single theme. So far from Germany we haven't seen a single massive military castle in its original state. You disparage structures like the Crac des Chevaliers, but a single turret of the Crac would dwarf an entire German castle.

You say German castles are those of a child's imagination, but I think they're the castles of the German or central European imagination in which fairytales and C19th Romanticism loom large.

The castles of my imagination are what I consider to be "real" castles. They have massive walls, battlements, arrow-slit windows, moat, drawbridge, portcullis, machiolations, murder holes, etc. It's the world of war, of sieges, catapults, and battering rams. It's the age of the chivalrous knights, the Norman kings, Crusades, and the Hundred Years War.

That's why cosy cute little aristocratic residences whose defining architectural stamp is of the late C15th or C16th don't have the same impact on me. They're not the "real deal".

[AJIekc]

Mont Saint-Michel
one of my fevorite

[NorthLimitation]

Originally Posted by erbse

That's the most upsetting thing about it all - Britain consists of four different countries, yet there are rather marginal differences in architecture. Especially when talking about material and ornamental matters.

There's nuffin' lost in translation, bro.

image hosted on flickr




Here we have 4 castles from Gaidhlig areas in Scotland and one from another Goidelic area of Ireland with huge differences in materials, architectural style, location etc. Scotland and Ireland, countries with about a 16th of the German population - so predictable and lacks variety, aye? That's not even comparing such architecture to England and Wales, countries which also have very great variety.

[tanosmile]

castles from Calabria, south italy

Le Castella, Crotone


Roseto Capo Spulico

[Langur]

^ Good stuff. We need to see more of the magnificent Mediterranean castles and walled cities on here. It's a shame that we've had so little so far places like Dubrovnik, Malta, Cyprus, Rhodes, Lebanon, Turkey, Sicily, etc.

[erbse]

Originally Posted by Langur

but unlike Germany we've also the real deal

You've got to be kidding. I don't care if a castle is a military phallus, but since you demand it...


Burghausen Castle, Bavaria - the longest (talking about phalusses) and one of the biggest in Europe.

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[Langur]

^ They're too modified and compromised, sorry.

[erbse]

Ehrenbreitstein fortress, Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate




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Not even talking about all the other fortresses and castles of the Rhein and Mosel valley...

[erbse]

Fortress Marienberg, Würzburg


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