Is that your way of complaining about the rainbow? I thought it was a nice touch. It can't be very often that a photographer gets a shot like that.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Another hill top Spanish castle, Casares Spain, getting crowded by the locals. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
This looks like a castle made out of clay, Casbah Ruins Dades Gorge Morocco. I really like the reddish color of it. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
It took about a century after gunpowder weapons appeared for castles to adapt fully, just as it took a century or more for tactics to adapt in light of the new weapons. Early cannon were not as powerful as one might think because gunpowder mixtures varied in quality, the original cannon fired stone projectiles that shattered on impact with a stone wall, and cannon production was uneven because metallurgy wasn't as advanced in the early days (and bad cannon would often explode). Primitive cannons were used in the Battle of Crecy (1346), but the 14th century is the earliest documented use we know of in Europe in war. (There are some indications they may have been used prior to Crecy, particularly in Spain by Muslims against Christians in the 13th century, but no direct evidence of their use in significant combat in Europe has yet been uncovered of use prior to the Hundred Years War, and specifically 1346.) Krak des Chavaliers is thus a in the style of pre-gunpowder castles. When the Knights Hospitalar lost it in the late 13th century (when Middle Eastern opponents may have had some access to cannon), it was still catapults that were used to recapture that castle.
Gunpowder forced a more drastic re-designing of fortifications. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Bourtange Fort in Groningen. A Star Fort with a system of Redoubts/Lunettes. Whilst medieval fortresses depended on increased defensive range from being on hills to enable arrows to fly further whilst forcing the enemy to close in, making use of moats and curtain walls to protect an inner bailey; Modern fortresses became closer to ground level to become harder to hit and focused on fields of fire to provide a maximum killing zone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_fortification http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_forts Anyways, from an engineering point of view the nicest ones are the ones most effective for their job - Dominating the landscape, installing fear, showing power, and being effective defensive sites. From an Architectural point of view I think these are also fascinating, particularly the Japanese Castles made for the Warring Shogunate as these are expert examples of how to design a castle for killing an enemy. Its outward beauty is almost a facade for the reality of what it's designed for. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_castle Of course there are many "stately home" style castles that are little more than attractively designed - frankly I find these a waste of stone. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Nice presentation, the Bourtange Fort in Groningen is very functional and yet it looks like a great place to spend time. Also, I saw a program that highlighted the killing functions of the Japanese castles. I would have thought they would be easy to burn down, but apparently that's not the case.
Let's not forget French castles, Carcassonne France, very nice. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Burgundy Castle Bourgogne France Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Clifden Castle County Galway Ireland. Makes me think of a little getaway castle tucked away on somebodies ranch.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
There's eloquence. And then there's verbosity. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I do concede the occasional display of rhetoric co-mingled with hyperbole. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
That's a cute little castle, KJ, in a pleasing pastoral setting. Here's another near Kilgarvan, Ireland. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I wonder if Ireland has any big castles. I'm trying to figure out what good small castles are? Seems like a small force could put on a seige and starve them out in a few days if they have enough water to drink.
Siege was one of the strategies by which castles could be taken, depending on the time of year and how much food was put by inside the walls. Depending on the weather and availability of food and shelter, the party laying siege was also discomfited. I believe the advantage of castles is that a relatively small number of people can hold a larger party at bay, depending on it's construction and location. This is a rather interestingly shaped castle, moated all around. Caerlaverock Castle is a moated triangular castle, built in the 13th century, in the Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve area at the Solway Firth, south of Dumfries in the southwest of Scotland. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
One of the largest castles in Ireland is Cahir Castle. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Oh noes not ANOTHER one! I'm fed up of the way we do that. Cahir is a corruption of an Chathair = fort or castle, so the place is called Castle Castle. Much like (for example) Conisbrough Castle = Cyningesburh = King's Castle/ Fort. So we've got King's Castle Castle. Aaargh! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Sorry! I'm just a virtual tourist, scoping out pictures and going by what's printed in the brochure, lol. Apparently Fraggle is not the only one at this forum with a background in Etymology. Thank you very much for that observation and clarification, Dywyddyr.