Amerongen Castle belongs to the Top 100 of monuments in The Netherlands.


( More pictures and information under the cut )

This one's been done before, but I recently went to Munich and we explored the mini palaces around Nymphemburg Palace.

This is all cross-posted from my journals, so I have 37-odd photos and a fair number of captions. I very much hope nobody minds palace picspam.


First up: Amalienburg. This is one of a few mini palaces in the grounds of Schloss Nymphenburg in Munich proper. Amalienburg was built as a small pleasure palace and hunting lodge for Maria Amalia, wife of Elector Karl Albrecht.

( Many photos )

Rising majestically above the River Trent at Newark in Nottinghamshire is Newark Castle known as the Key of the North due to its position and great strength only 20 miles down River from Nottingham. It was founded by during the reign of Egbert (802 – 839) of the West Saxons. The Castle was extended over the years especially after the Norman Conquest and was consecrated by the Bishop of Lincoln in 1123 who established it as a mint. As a royal castle it was home to King John who died there in 1216 but by the time of Edward III was used as a prision.

During the English Civil War it became a garrison for Charles I and his Royalist forces along with the town being fortified who held this loyal town of In Nottinghamshire during the latter years of the war. After endring 3 seiges it eventually surrended at the end of the war to Cromwell’s forces who systamatically began demolition and dismantling of the castle as they did with its sister 20 miles away in Nottingham on the orders of Oliver Cromwell.

Today all that remains of the original Norman castle are the Gate-house, a south west tower, a crypt and a single long curtain wall still with decorative windows, garderobe holes and crenalations. The walls show the pitted marks of war and seige where cannon balls and musket fire marred the stout walls.

Nottingham Castle is a castle in Nottingham, England. It is located in a commanding position on a natural promontory known as "'Castle Rock'", with cliffs 130 feet (40 m) high to the south and west. In the Middle Ages it was a major royal fortress and occasional royal residence. In decline by the 16th century, it was largely demolished in 1649, but sufficient fragments remain to give an impression of the layout of the site. A ducal mansion later occupied the summit of the promontory. This was burnt out by rioters in 1831, and later adapted as an art gallery and museum, which remains in use today.

Back to Brocéliande. The history of Trécesson is a very ancient one : the place was already the seat of the lords of Ploërmel and Campénéac in the 8th century, and the Trécesson family is documented since the 13th century.
The actual castle was built in the 15th century. Property of the Carné-Trécesson family until 1773, it now belongs to the countess of Prunelé.

www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/bolsover-c...

The History of Bolsover Castle

Bolsover occupies the hilltop site of a medieval fortress built by the Peverel family. The wealthy Sir Charles Cavendish - who already owned several other great mansions, including one only a few miles away -bought the old fortress in 1612 and began work on his Little Castle project. His son William - playboy, poet, courtier and later Civil War Royalist general and first Duke of Newcastle - inherited the Little Castle in 1617 and set about its completion, assisted by the architect John Smythson. What resulted was a kind of 'toy keep', housing tiers of luxurious staterooms. The exquisitely carved fireplaces, and richly-coloured murals and panelling of its miraculously preserved and beautifully restored interiors still take the visitor on an allegorical journey from earthly concerns to heavenly (and erotic) delights.

William also added the vast and stately Terrace Range overlooking the Vale of Scarsdale, now a dramatic roofless shell. To show off his achievement, in 1634 he invited King Charles I and his court to Love's Welcome to Bolsover, a masque specially written by Ben Jonson for performance in the Fountain Garden. Finally he constructed the cavernous Riding House with its magnificent roof and viewing galleries, among the finest surviving indoor riding schools in the country and a landmark in British equestrianism: here he indulged his passion for training great horses in stately dressage.

The History of Bolsover Castle

Bolsover occupies the hilltop site of a medieval fortress built by the Peverel family. The wealthy Sir Charles Cavendish - who already owned several other great mansions, including one only a few miles away -bought the old fortress in 1612 and began work on his Little Castle project. His son William - playboy, poet, courtier and later Civil War Royalist general and first Duke of Newcastle - inherited the Little Castle in 1617 and set about its completion, assisted by the architect John Smythson. What resulted was a kind of 'toy keep', housing tiers of luxurious staterooms. The exquisitely carved fireplaces, and richly-coloured murals and panelling of its miraculously preserved and beautifully restored interiors still take the visitor on an allegorical journey from earthly concerns to heavenly (and erotic) delights.

William also added the vast and stately Terrace Range overlooking the Vale of Scarsdale, now a dramatic roofless shell. To show off his achievement, in 1634 he invited King Charles I and his court to Love's Welcome to Bolsover, a masque specially written by Ben Jonson for performance in the Fountain Garden. Finally he constructed the cavernous Riding House with its magnificent roof and viewing galleries, among the finest surviving indoor riding schools in the country and a landmark in British equestrianism: here he indulged his passion for training great horses in stately dressage.

The Venus Fountain, with 23 new statues, plays again for the first time in centuries, and the 'Caesar paintings' commissioned by Cavendish and depicting Roman emperors and empresses have also returned to Bolsover.

Brocéliande. The Valley of no Return is not far from here. At the entrance to the small village of Tréhorenteuc, stands this 16th century manor, formerly named château du Gurwan.

Property of many noble families during history (the Gaël, the Montfort, the Laval, the Coligny...), it inspired the novel Le Val sans Retour, written by Rachilde and Jean-Joé Lauzach in 1930. It's still a private property you can only see from the road.