Castles.nl

Welcome to my website dedicated to castles. It's an amateur, one man operated website, launched in November 1999. It started with descriptions of 7 Dutch castles, was continually updated and now describes over 500 castles, castle ruins and other fortifications in Europe and beyond! And new castles are regularly being added! I hope you'll like it.

De Haar Castle in the Netherlands This website formerly consisted of two separate websites, known as Mot's Castle Page (focusing on castles in the Netherlands, my native country) and Mot's European Castle Page (I think you can guess what its subject was). But because of expansion, remodeling and the addition of Muslim and Crusader castles in the Middle East, slave castles in Africa and forts in the Caribbean, this new website was created combining the two together. This is the reason that the Dutch section is more elaborate; with more links, older images and plans. So the emphasis of this site is now on European castles.

Montquintin Castle in Belgium What is listed ? Only castles and other fortifications which I've personally visited during my vacations and spare time. I know there can be a lot of discussion about what exactly makes a structure a castle. But in my opinion a castle is a structure with realistic defensive features built from around 800 AD till 1600 AD. So if you can't find the castle you're after, it either didn't fit my definition or I haven't visited it (yet).

Rihemberk Castle in Slovenia Here and there you will also find some other fortifications or buildings that don't meet my own criteria of a castle but they were added for no other reason than me liking their appearance. Hey, that's the advantage of being your own webmaster!

Monea Castle in Ireland Furthermore, if you want to use my images or texts from this website, just ask. Of a lot of castles featured here I have more historical info, images and ground plans available. Again; if needed, just ask.

So, to get to the castles, click on the name of the country of your choice on the list below and you'll be taken to a separate page about that country. Have fun! And don't hesitate to mail me when you've got questions, comments or whatever.

Austria : 12 castles.
Belgium : 115 castles.
Cuba : 10 forts.
Dutch Antilles : 6 forts.
France : 93 castles.
Germany : 15 castles.
Ghana : 6 forts and castles.
Great Britain : 29 castles.

Ireland : 45 castles.
Italy : 24 castles.
Luxembourg : 21 castles.
Netherlands : 89 castles.
Portugal : 9 castles.
Slovenia : 5 castles.
Spain : 76 castles.
Syria : 10 castles.
Turkey : 49 castles.