Ostia Castle

I love a good castle, and Ostia's was nice.
15th century, built by Pope Julius II.
I got to take a tour- just me and the guide,
for free!
I didn't understand 100% of his Italian,
but it was good to practice,
and I really enjoyed the views.

Witch's Eye

This is the Witch's Eye.
It is a cross section of a medieval tower,
fallen on its side.
It is part of the ruins of the Chateau Engelbourg,
which perches on a hill above the town of Thann.

Though there are a lot of taller surrounding hills
("mountains")
the road up to the castle is still steep-ish,
and atmospherically gloomy this time of year:

Castle Count part 2

This is Norwich castle, a Norman keep heavily restored in the 20th century.
It now houses an arts museum.
I didn't technically go in this one, but there's nothing original inside to see.

Inspired by the royal castle at Norwich is this twelfth-century keep at Castle Rising.
This was a fun keep to explore, partly ruined, partly intact.

Also in Norfolk was Castle Acre, in a pretty ruinous state, though the earthworks (like the ones flanking this gatehouse) were really cool and apparently some of the best preserved earthworks in England.

Castle Count

English castles this visit: six.
The first is the Tower of London.
This is the famous Traitors' Gate, a water gate access that allowed greater security in bringing prisoners in and out.

This is Carlisle castle, which I did visit years ago as well.
Very impressive and well kept up, though it has been modified for gun ports and use down almost to the 20th century.

This is Lincoln castle, also in pretty good shape, though the medieval towers are crumbling and it was the center area that was turned into the city's judicial center (prison and law courts, the latter still in operation evidently).

The Right Day for the Castle?!

I woke up Tuesday morning and it was a glorious day.
I thought, "Today will be a great day to visit Haut-Koenigsburg castle after I spend the morning at the Selestat library!"
I have long wanted to visit Haut-Koenigsberg, but only this year has the bus system added it to its route.
Well.
I was on the train, halfway to Selestat, before I realized that Tuesday was the day that the Selestat library was CLOSED.
So I couldn't get any work done.
I decided to go to the castle, anyway.
It WAS a lovely day for the castle.
Unfortunately, hordes of other tourists thought so too.
It was very crowded, and taking pictures that don't feature backpacks or elbows was quite a challenge.
I did end up with some beautiful ones.
The view of the main living quarters:

A view of the lower courtyard, from the upper gun bastion:

From the upper garden, a view of one of the castle drawbridges:

The south wall of the main keep:

This castle, as you might gather, has been heavily restored in the early 20th century.
The detail of this south wall shows not only a Renaissance oriel window but next to it a long chute... that's the latrine chute, open at the bottom.
It must have made a nasty smelly mess on the rocks beneath.

Castles are Great!

This is Clifford's Tower: York's remaining castle.
(There used to be two, in Norman days.)
It was originally wooden, and rebuilt in stone in the 13th century.
I have decided I need to visit more castles!