13th century castles of Europe

35 European castles and fortresses built mainly in the 13th century — each mapped, dated and ready to explore.

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  Belmonte Castle

  Portugal · 13th century

  Castle of the Cabral family, home of the discoverer of Brazil

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  Château de Blois

  France · 13th century

  Royal château of four styles, scene of the dramatic murder of the Duke of Guise

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  King John's Castle

  Ireland · 13th century

  Mighty riverside fortress on King's Island in the city of Limerick

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  Rothenburg ob der Tauber Walls

  Germany · 13th century

  Germany's best-preserved medieval town walls, with a covered wall-walk and towers

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  St Andrews Castle

  Scotland · 13th century

  Coastal bishops' castle with a notorious bottle dungeon and siege mine

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  Visegrád Citadel

  Hungary · 13th century

  Hungary's hilltop citadel above the Danube Bend, once a royal seat

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  York City Walls

  England · 13th century

  England's most complete medieval city walls, walkable above the streets of York

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  Maynooth Castle

  Ireland · 13th century

  Seat of the powerful FitzGerald earls, besieged in the 'Pardon of Maynooth'

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  Dublin Castle

  Ireland · 13th century

  The seat of English and British power in Ireland for over 700 years

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  Athlone Castle

  Ireland · 13th century

  Riverside fortress guarding the great crossing of the Shannon

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  Dunstaffnage Castle

  Scotland · 13th century

  One of Scotland's oldest stone castles, a MacDougall stronghold

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  Marvão Castle

  Portugal · 13th century

  Eagle's-nest border castle on a sheer crag over the Alentejo

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  Ashford Castle

  Ireland · 13th century

  Fairytale lakeside castle, once a Guinness estate and now a luxury hotel

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  Château d'Angers

  France · 13th century

  Mighty striped fortress of seventeen towers, home of the Apocalypse Tapestry

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  Eilean Donan

  Scotland · 13th century

  Scotland's most photographed castle, on a tidal island where three lochs meet

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  Urquhart Castle

  Scotland · 13th century

  Ruined lochside stronghold on the banks of Loch Ness

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  Athenry Castle

  Ireland · 13th century

  Well-preserved early Norman keep in one of Ireland's best walled towns

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  Dirleton Castle

  Scotland · 13th century

  13th-century cluster-tower castle with celebrated gardens

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  Kildrummy Castle

  Scotland · 13th century

  Ruined 13th-century stronghold of the Earls of Mar

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  Königstein Fortress

  Germany · 13th century

  A vast clifftop fortress above the Elbe, considered impregnable

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  Stolzenfels Castle

  Germany · 13th century

  A Prussian king's romantic Gothic-Revival castle above the Rhine

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  Rheinfels Castle

  Germany · 13th century

  The mightiest ruined fortress on the Rhine, above St. Goar

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  Frankenstein Castle

  Germany · 13th century

  Hilltop ruin near Darmstadt wrapped in legend and a famous name

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  Leap Castle

  Ireland · 13th century

  Often called the most haunted castle in Ireland

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  Beja Castle

  Portugal · 13th century

  Towering Gothic keep over the wheat plains of the Alentejo

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  Burghausen Castle

  Germany · 13th century

  The longest castle complex in the world, stretching over a kilometre along a ridge

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  Estremoz Castle

  Portugal · 13th century

  Marble-white royal castle where Queen Isabel died

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  Blair Castle

  Scotland · 13th century

  White-walled Highland castle, home of the only legal private army in Europe

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  Roscommon Castle

  Ireland · 13th century

  Great quadrangular royal castle with mighty corner towers

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  Bothwell Castle

  Scotland · 13th century

  Scotland's largest 13th-century stone castle, in red sandstone above the Clyde

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  Caerlaverock Castle

  Scotland · 13th century

  Britain's only triangular castle, a famous siege target in 1300

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  Dunvegan Castle

  Scotland · 13th century

  Skye's Clan MacLeod seat, the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland

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  Malbork Castle

  Poland · 13th century

  The world's largest brick castle, built by the Teutonic Knights in Poland

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  Conwy Castle

  Wales · 13th century

  13th-century Welsh river fortress with eight towers, built in just four years

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  Drum Castle

  Scotland · 13th century

  One of Scotland's oldest tower houses, granted by Robert the Bruce