Few buildings stand as a monument to human achievement as strongly as castles do. In England, they were built by invading armies as strongholds to defend their new territory. In Medieval times, castles were the ultimate prize. Capture a countries castles, and you’ve captured a countries people. So they needed to be strong and imposing castle. So strong that many of these castles still stand today. Some are maintained by official organizations but others have been long abandoned. Abandoned castles don’t tend to be in good condition but some are in good enough condition to visit. All over the world there are abandoned castles just waiting for humans to encounter. They weren’t all built in the middle ages – the Victorians were prone to building castles as romantic gestures. Here are 10 amazing abandoned castles.
Bannermans’ Castle, USA
Bannermans’ Castle stands on a tiny island in the middle of NewYork’s Hudson river. The island is surrounded by a legend that a young girl once became stranded there. She died on the island and her ghost has haunted the castle ever since. But that’s just a story. The castle was built by a Scottish businessman in 1901 for his personal residence, and to store the military supplies his business was based on. But he died in 1918, the no one has cared for the castle since. It just stands on the island, falling apart. It was mostly destroyed by a fire in the 1960s, and is now closed to the public. But it can still be seen from the mainland.
Dunnottar Castle, UK
As far as abandoned castles go, Dunnottar Castle is the apex. It your classic medieval fortress, being highly defensive and strategically important. It was important if you wanted to control eastern-Scotland and was therefore targeted by rebel fighters many times. It was owned and lived in by a earl, who lost his title and land after getting involved with a rebellion against the king in 1715. The rebellion obviously failed so there was no one to look after the castle. It was finally abandoned three years later in 1718. Today, anyone can visit the castle – what’s left of the castle at least.
Kasteel van Mesen, Belgium
Kasteel van Mesen is a long abandoned castle in Belgium. It was built about 11 hundred years ago as a stronghold against Norman invaders, the type who has recently taken control of England. From then on it was owned by wealthy Belgian lords until the 19th century when it was strangely transformed into a boarding school. It served as a school until the early 1970s, when it was simply abandoned. And since then no one has cared for it. It’s terrible to see such a historic building simply be abandoned and neglected, but the fact the it’s abandoned seems to add something more to it.
Dunluce Castle, UK
Dunluce Castle is a ruined castle in Northern-Island. The current castle was built in the medieval period, but the land was used for previous castles long before this. The castle was traditionally owned by the McQuillan family, who lived there until the late 16th century. After that, it fell to the MacDonnell family. Legend tells that the castle is haunted by the ghosts of the McQuillan family who refused to allow anyone else to own it. The castle is built on a cliff side, with steep drops surrounding all sides other than the entrance. This made the castle incredibly secure, and made things difficult for those wanting to capture it.
Sausenburg Castle, Germany
Sausenburg is an interesting little castle in southern Germany. It was built in 1246 by powerful counts, because that’s what counts do. The counts power grew from there, but their dynasty eventually died out around the mid-15th century. So the castle was left to another family. They lived there eacefully until the beginning of the Franco-Dutch war in 1672, when it became a building of strategic importance. Because of this, the castle was mostly destroyed and set on fire in 1678. The castle has been abandoned literally since then. It just stands there, an empty shell of what it once was. I’m just impressed it’s still standing strong after it’s destruction and hundreds of years of ne