Castle in 10 languages
Castles have a special place in our collective imagination, and they dot the landscape in many countries, either as beautiful buildings still used and loved or as evocative ruins, slowly disintegrating.
Castles in different countries each have their own unique characteristics, yet are all equally beautiful.
I have a lot of memories around castles from the ruins of the ‘castle’ (actually a ‘big house’) on the headland near my home, Carbisdale Castle in Scotland where I spent long periods of time in my childhood exploring the secret passages, spyholes and surrounding forest complete with toadstool fairy rings. In Japan, I lived in Kumamoto which is famous for its well-preserved castle and our first trip to Austria was to a fortified building on top of a steep hill on what was once the edge of the Ottoman Empire.
The word castle is derived from the Latin word castellum, which is a diminutive of the word castrum, meaning “fortified place”. The Old English castel, Old French castel or chastel, French château, Spanish castillo, Italian castello, and a number of words in other languages also derive from castellum.
(I’m sure that I’m the only one interested in the etymology!)
Do you have any castles near you?
Have you visited any?
Which castles would you recommend visiting?
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I love visiting castles! They are always the highlight of my travels:)
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I visited another beautiful castle this week – Harlech Castle in Wales – there is something about castles which just completely captures your imagination! Have you got any recommendations for favourite castles to visit?
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We don’t have many in our area, but I loved Craigdorrach castle in Victoria BC though it’s probably better described as just a mansion.
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I will look it up, thank you! We have a ‘castle’ near us which is really just a big house, but we call it both names!
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I would love to see actual castles! One of the reasons Europe is on my list!
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Hope you can visit someday-we have LOADS of castles!
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You’re so lucky in that way!
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