Castles were known to humanity in the middle ages where they were built mainly in Europe and the middle eastern countries. They were mainly built as a house for the royal family. Many castles were built for military purposes but these ones tend to have different design, structure and supplies as well. The difference is clear, when you build a castle in order to protect yourself during a war; you would of course build secret places and stairs in case you need to escape. Many military castles that were used in battles had more water supplies that were built in different places other than the castles that were intended only for living.
The following castles were built for both purposes, so let us see what are the biggest of them.
10 Edinburgh Castle
Scotland is the country where the best castles in the world were built. The Edinburgh castle is more than 35,000 square meters. The castle belonged to the Scottish royalty but not for the purpose of living, it was only among their positions and was used for military ends till the 17th century.
9 Aleppo Citadel
In nowadays Syria, one of the tallest castles stands in Aleppo. This castle witnessed different rulers from various countries in the world and all have lived in the castle and leaving their mark in the country.
8 Prague Castle
Located in the capital of the Czech Republic, the Prague Castle was built in the 9th century at a very important time in history. It used the house of the king and from where he used to rule the kingdom, meet with people and officials.
7 Burghausen Castle
Germany is lucky enough to have one of the biggest castles in Europe on its lands. It is one of the oldest castles as well since it was built in the 10th century. Very old, right!
6 Buda Castle
The Buda castle is located in Hungary in what used to be the Buda city, guess where is this city now? The ancient Buda city was annexed in 1870s to the Pest city in order to give us the modern name Budapest, the Hungarian capital. It is important to mention that the castle was nearly deteriorated in the ancient times and was revived only in the 19th century to have this modern shape.
5 Spis Castle
When the Spis castle was built in the 12th century, it belonged to the the king of Hungary. It continued to move from one ruler to another for three centuries in a row until it setlled for Slovakia in the mid 20th century.
4 Windsor Castle
Whether you visited UK or not, you are probably familiar with this name. As the biggest castle in England as a whole, the Windsor castle is always open for visitors all the days of the week. It was mainly designed in order to help the Romans in London.
3 Rheinfels Castle
LOcated in Germany the Rheinfels castle was nearly destroyed in the 18th century on the hands of Napoleon. In the following century, the castle’s ownership moved to the king of Germany and it remained one of the German possessions since then.
2 Kenilworth Castle
In Uk again, the second biggest castle lies. It was built in the 11th century and most of the families that owned it were the Royal English families.. However, during the Civil War the castle was ruined and remained as such in the modern day England.
1 Malbork Castle
Now, the biggest castle in the whole world is a Polish possession. The Malbork castle occupies an area of 21 hectares. wow! No wonder it was one of the important fortress in the medieval ages. Today it is one of Poland’s most important historic monuments that the National Heritage Board of Poland do their best to maintain.
