 |
|
Enlarge photo |
To commemorate the Smithsonian Presents Travels with Rick Steves magazine — now on sale online, and at newsstands nationwide — Rick is blogging about the 20 top destinations featured in that issue. One of those destinations is actually a collection of castles across Europe.
The list of favorite castles I collected and described for the Smithsonian ended up being mostly Europe’s glorious castles. These were the kind that were so foreboding, they made a petty kingdom’s debilitating defense budget a good investment in the long run, creating a defensive bastion so formidable that no one even attempted to take it.
But behind the touristic glorious castles are the forgotten inglorious castles — just evocative, stony husks with no plaster or paint, broken stairways, and open skies rather than rooftops. All across Europe, the fragrant lichen of history eats at the corpse of castles as they rot away unnoticed on hilltops. Climbing through waist-high weeds on rubble collapsed and corralled by surviving walls, you can break off a spiky frond and live a sword-fern fantasy.
While time strips away the plaster, it leaves enough to evoke the days of feudalism. Castles were built on the backs of peasant labor — forgotten people who had no option in life but to subsist under the rule of a corrupt and petty ruler and carry rocks when told to. Moss seems to prepare stones for the fall they’ve waited centuries for. A dark spiral staircase leads to a tentative lookout over what was a floor. Bat dung drifts high in the dark stretches of the staircase. Standing gingerly at the top of the stairs, you look out. Before you stretches no floor. Across the expanse is the most finished element of the castle: the still-tidy square holes into which hand-hewn floor beams were stuck. What became of the beams and all they supported?
Peering through arrow slits, you look away from your castle perch. Imagine the now-overgrown terrain, once shaved to create a no-man’s land, where no enemy could find cover as he approached.
Underground tunnels lead away from the shell of a castle. Crouching as I advance, I reach a place far from the castle, just a few feet under the shaved no-man’s land. Here is where explosives would be packed, ready to surprise advancing forces and blow them to smithereens if they dared approach this fortress.
Looking up from outside at the surviving wall, I see a pair of stones jutting out high above me, now supporting only the memory of an outhouse. I imagine updrafts that once blew onto noble butts. I imagine enemies that once eyed this toilet hole as the possible Achilles’ heel of an otherwise impenetrable castle.
Ruined castle appreciation isn’t for everyone. I guess it’s a guy thing…to peer, wonderstruck, over the shoulder of a guide who lowers a lamp on a rope into a dungeon that has only one way in or out — a mean-spirited hole in the ceiling. Stories of knights sleeping in wooden boxes filled with hay in dank ground-floor rooms evoke scenes of these men struggling night after night to find some warmth.
With the same boorish conversation and little else to amuse, I can imagine the appeal of alcohol in feudal times. There’s certainly evidence of drunkenness. Keyholes on mighty doors came with iron guides that funneled the key of an inebriated lord into place. All he had to do was locate his key, hold it in front of him, fall onto the door, and when the key landed in the hole, give it a turn.
The advent of the cannon forced castles to crouch rather than stand tall. And pre-cannon castles, standing tall atop hillocks, visited with the heavy breathing that comes with a steep hike, stoke the imagination of any traveler. And with imagination properly stoked, these humble and forgotten ruins too can rival Europe’s great and famous castles.
Reading this blog I can imagine myself there. When I travel this is just the kind of places I love to see and imagine what it was really like. Thanks Rick
While doing some driving around England, I came across one of these castles. There were no ceilings, tall towers empty where stairs and floors used to me. I imagined many of the things you described. I remember that castle better than the tourist Warwick castle all the locals thought I wanted to see… There were brown signs on the side of the roads that signified some sort of historic castle/ruin, etc… we found a lot of these cool things using those signs! Viva la broken down castle!
I visited many such sites on a family vacation to Scotland back in 2002. Dunnottar Castle particularly comes to mind…..a spectacular ruin that would stoke anyone’s imagination! Great post Rick!
I love old castles and castle ruins. I take myself back in time and thought this would have been so neat to play Robin Hood. Looking forward to watching in July Pillars of the Earth mini series (book by Ken Follett) on the building of cathedrals during the 1100-1300s. I always recommend this book for people who are traveling to Europe.
I’d reccomend the Castles of Edward I in Wales…we had a great time going up every tower we could and walked every wall. At Flint not much is left but some of the others (perhaps with some restoration) are wonderful to behold.
It is not just a guy thing as I love old ruins–Last August while in the Champagne Region of France on a late Sunday morning we came across the ruin of Le Forte Champagne built in 1848 high on a hill. We climbed and walked among the ruin for over an hour having the most beautiful views of the village & vineyards below. We found wild blackberry bushes ripe with fruit that were delicious. As we picked and ate the berries, we talked about how we imagined life to be back in those times. It was one of the highlights of our trip and so unexpected and simple–we were the only ones there that morning and I have wonderful memories of the ruin that still brings a smile to my face today as I am writing about it. The unexpected off the beaten path experiences have been some of my most cherished memories of my travels.
Sorry, hit the send button too quickly on the above comment, I left out that the chateaux ruins are from the 1300’s and that the fort surrounding the ruins was build in 1848.
Dear Rick: Excellent post. The Kuenringer Castle ruin in Durnstein, Austria (http://www.duernstein.at/sites/ueber_geschichte_en.php) is definitely a ‘sword-fern fantasy’ site. It was there that Richard the Lionhearted was held captive upon returning from the Crusades. You have to hike up a steep hill to reach it, but the view from the castle runis is amazing – the beautiful Wachau unfolds in front of you while the sleepy hamlet with the beautiful blue Monastery lies below. Now, with regard to another ‘guy thing’, the famous World War II European Theater sites (London, Normandy, Bastogne and the Ardennes, Arnhem, Remagen, Berlin, etc.) fit this category. They are, unfortunately, of little interest to many/most women (my wife and daugter and their friends included; ‘Pamela’ [above] excluded). Therefore, in order to provide a valuable service to all of the ETBD WWII history buffs out there (both male and female), have you ever thought of organizing an ETBD “European Theater WWII” Historical Tour? The tour put on by the National D-Day Museum and others are exhorbitant cost-wise because they frequently sign on celebrities, such as the son of Field Marshall Montgomery or the like. It’s a nice touch, but the tour participants have to shell out big bucks to pay to have them along. I would rather tour the sites with a knowledgable local guide and leave Monty’s son at home. So, Rick, how about it? For the guys – and the “Pamelas” – out there! You might be surprised by the response.
If Rick were to organize a European WW2 tour, there would be NOTHING that would keep me from going . . . even if the Wife said “No”!
Just returned from Ireland, and really enjoyed all the castles. Trim Castle was great along with a great guide. My husband does enjoy all the rubble, I think because you can see inside walls ect. I love to go to the finished ones like Austria, Dublin. Fun to imagine life in those days!
I’m another woman who would love a WWII-themed tour. Part of my honeymoon was spent at the D-day beaches in the summer of 1994; and yes, it was my idea, and my husband graciously agreed!
A propos WWII: One of my favorite travel incidents – in March 1999, discovering that our B&B was only yards away from a German gun emplacement and lookout bunker on the cliffs overlooking Normandy beach. We explored at will the deserted and intact site (including big gun still pointed seaward) located near the village of Longues-sur-Mer. Also, don’t overlook the German war dead in Normandy in the cemetery at La Cambe. That could be combined with a visit to Colleville.
Robert great idea for a WWII themed trip!!! Rick, I would be one of the first to sign on, please consider it. Judy & Rez–Glad to know there are other women who also love history and ruins. There is so much to learn from the past which can help us in the future.
I too would sign up for a WWII theme tour.
I have been fasisated with WWII and WWI history for years! I watch Winds of War and War and Remembrance every year about this time, My father was in WWI and my brothers in WWII. I would sign up for a tour for sure! Carole
sign me up for the WWII theme tour
I too would be ready for a WWII tour. What parameters should be set for the tour? Considering the war touched nearly every square foot in the whole of Europe and much more, what areas would we want the tour to include? I have always been fascinated by the fact that in nearly every European country I’ve traveled, the Romans built and then the Nazis destroyed. So much tragedy and terror in such a short span of time. The tour must include a stop in Bacharach with Herr Junge! Would FDR or Truman need someone to tell them whose ass to kick?
I would sign up for the WWII tour. My Dad was in Foggia, Italy during the war and I grew up hearing his stories and I would love to see where he lived for several years.
I love the site of these castles, the face that these actually exists in the Medieval times. How I wish i can go back to the time when these castles were fully furnished with elegance. I’ll bring my camera too to capture the moments.
I love the site of these castles, the face that these actually exists in the Medieval times. How I wish i can go back to the time when these castles were fully furnished with elegance. I’ll bring my camera too to capture the moments. Travel Stories
I stumbled across your site on Google and I liked it. Keep blogging. Looking for reading your new post. Thanks a lot.