20 Best Castles Ever

• 1078
  William the Conqueror begins the construction of the Tower of London on the north bank of the River Thames to fortify key position, making foundation of one of the most famous castles in the World
• 1144
  The Knights Hospitallers begin expanding a fortress 140 kilometers northwest of Damascus known as Krak des Chevaliers
• 1150
  Edinburgh Castle, one of the most important strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, is built upon the plug of an extinct volcano by the king David I
• 1157
  Eltz Castle, one of three castles in Rhineland-Palatinate which have never been destroyed, is built on a 70-metre rock spur in Koblenz, Germany, by the Eltz family
• 1190
  The King of Castile Alfonso VIII starts rebuilding of a Muslim wooden fort on a rocky crag in Segovia into a stone castle and makes it a royal residence
• 1200 ± 10
  King John's Castle is built on King's Island in Limerick, Ireland by order King John of England
• 1202
  The Predjama Castle is built at the mouth of a huge cave at Postojna, Slovenia
• 1213
  Kilkenny Castle is built by the Anglo-Normans in Ireland to control a fording-point of the River Nore
• 1250
  Cité de Carcassonne, an ancient Roman citadel on a hill on the right bank of the River Aude, France, is reinforced and extended by French government, becoming a strong frontier between France and the Crown of Aragon
• 1289
  Conwy Castle, a medieval fortification in Conwy, Wales, is built as part of the extensive program of castle-building initiated by Edward I after his conquest of Wales
• 1385
  Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, builds, with the permission of Richard II, a castle known as Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, in order to defend the area against French invasion during the Hundred Years' War
• 1406
  Malbork Castle, the largest castle in the world by surface area, is completed by the Teutonic Knights in Marienburg, the administrative center of the Order in Prussia
• 1452
  Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II begins construction of a new fortress called Rumeli Hisar on the Constantinople side of the Bosporus in order to control the sea traffic on the Bosphorus strait
• 1520
  The fortified monastery on Mont Saint-Michel, an island commune in Normandy, is completed, becoming one of the most recognizable landmarks in France
• 1547
  Château de Chambord, the largest château in the Loire Valley and one of the most famous ones in France is built at the behest of the king of France Francis I
• 1586
  George Khevenhüller, a Carinthian nobleman, who purchased Hochosterwitz Castle on a high rock in Duchy of Carinthia, modern-day Austria, fortifies it to defend the region against Turkish invasions
• 1609
  Himeji Castle, a hilltop Japanese castle located in Himeji, Japan is completely rebuilt into a large castle complex by Japanese daimyo Ikeda Terumasa
• 1857
  Schwerin Palace, a palatial castle in Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, is built by architect Georg Adolph Demmler
• 1867
  Construction on the third Hohenzollern Castle, the seat of the House of Hohenzollern, is completed by Hohenzollern scion Frederick William IV of Prussia atop Berg Hohenzollern, a 234-metre bluff
• 1882
  Neuschwanstein Castle, a Romanesque Revival palace in southwest Bavaria, Germany, is completed by Ludwig II of Bavaria

5 the most Iconic Castles

• 1078
  William the Conqueror begins the construction of the Tower of London on the north bank of the River Thames to fortify key position and overawe the city by the new ruling elite
• 1406
  Malbork Castle, the largest castle in the world by surface area, is completed by the Teutonic Knights in Marienburg, the administrative center of the Order in Prussia
• 1452
  Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II begins construction of a new fortress called Rumeli Hisar on the Constantinople side of the Bosporus in order to control the sea traffic on the Bosphorus strait
• 1609
  Himeji Castle, a hilltop Japanese castle located in Himeji, Japan is completely rebuilt into a large castle complex by Japanese daimyo Ikeda Terumasa
• 1882
  Neuschwanstein Castle, a Romanesque Revival palace in southwest Bavaria, Germany, is completed by Ludwig II of Bavaria

Teutonic Knights

• March 5, 1198
  The Teutonic Knights, religious Catholic order, are established as a military order in a ceremony at Acre in Palestine
• 1226, March
  The Golden Bull of Rimini, issued by Emperor Frederick II, authorizes the Teutonic Knights to conquer and convert pagan Prussian tribes in the Baltic
• December 28, 1233
  Kulm law, a charter granted settlers civic freedoms, is issued by the Teutonic Knights as a part of their efforts to colonize Prussia
• April 5, 1242
  At the Battle on the Ice the Republic of Novgorod under 20-year-old Prince Alexander Nevsky defeat the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Knights halting the Northern Crusades directed against pagans and Eastern Orthodox Christians
• February 7, 1249
  Treaty of Christburg forces the pagan Prussian clans to recognize the rule of the Teutonic Knights, establishing German as the dominant culture and language
• 1255
  Königsberg is founded on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement Twangste by the Bohemian King Otakar II, who came to help Teutonic Knights during their conquest of Prussia
• July 13, 1260
  Lithuanians defeat the joint forces of the Teutonic Knights from Prussia and Livonian Order from Livonia at the Battle of Durbe during the Livonian Crusade
• June 1, 1298
  The people of Riga with help of Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytenis defeat the order in the Battle of Turaida
• 1341
  The Livonian Order buy the Duchy of Estonia from King Valdemar IV of Denmark
• February 17, 1370
  Teutonic Knights beat forces of Grand Duchy of Lithuania at Battle of Rudau
• 1406
  Malbork Castle, the largest castle in the world by surface area, is completed by the Teutonic Knights in Marienburg, the administrative center of the Order in Prussia
• July 15, 1410
  Lithuanian-Polish forces defeat the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in Prussia, thereby halting the Knights' eastward expansion along the Baltic and hastening their decline
• 1466
  Second Peace of Thorn ends the Thirteen Years' War, a conflict between the Prussian Confederation, allied with the Kingdom of Poland, and the State of the Teutonic Order, with win of Prussian Confederation
• April 10, 1525
  Albert von Brandenburg, a member of a branch of the House of Hohenzollern and the leader of the Teutonic Order, secularizes Order's remaining territories into the Duchy of Prussia and passes the first laws of the Protestant church, making Prussia a Protestant state
• 1809
  Napoleon strips the Teutonic Knights of their last holdings in Bad Mergentheim in Germany