Castle Expert's top ten MEDIEVAL CASTLES

Thanks for all the videos Shad. I read your book, Shadow fo the Conqueror over Christmas, once I finished it I picked it up to read it again. It's even better the second time around!

South Germany is definitely the land of Shads dreams, a couple of km away from me, there are 4 castles in sight, two of them still standing completely. One of them has quite a tragic story. A Nobles son imprisoned his older brother and let him rot in the dungeon, then took control over the castle, later regretted it and threw himself from the tower.

I am so glad Karlštejn made your list!

My Polish heart broke when you didn't mention Malbork (yes, I know it was build by a Germans, but sssh...). Thanks to many renovations, it looks spectacular. That red brick makes to look so unique! Recently I also visited castle called Krzyżtopór (Cross-Axe) and it became one of my favourites. It's a palazzo in fortezza and the architect had an interesting idea when designing it - the number of each elements symbolises a part of a year. 4 towers symbolise 4 seasons, 12 chambers for each month, 52 rooms for each week and 365 windows for each day

This should be a monthly series by country, it would be really educational and interesting for the sake of potential visiting.

You might be interested in Czech castle "Kost". It's very unique because it's actually not on a hill but in a valley but even Jan Žižka failed to capture it and that dude really knew his stuff. Another cool castle (sadly in ruines) is "Trosky" Two towers on two really high rocks connected by walls. Another really cool one is "Pernštejn". Just look at the photos. But honestly Czech Republic is filled with cool castles.

As an Austrian loving Hochosterwitz Castle, i'm glad it made it on the list! Cheers

Ewloe Castle is pronounced yew-low. After having climbed all over castles like Conwy, Caernarfon, Harlech and Rhuddlan while growing up, what struck me about Ewloe is how different it felt seeing it for the first time. The others are imposing structures on the horizon, demanding you gawk at them, but when my dad took my sisters and I there he didn’t tell us we were going to see a castle - simply parked up in a nondescript car park and took us into the woods, the surprise I felt at happening upon the ruins was unlike anything I’d felt before or since, and despite it being far smaller and less imposing than the other castles I’ve visited in North Wales it is firmly one of my favourites.

You might see some of the Spanish Castles, their archiquecture, and the historical context are amazing, the state of conservation of most of them are incredible. That can make an amazing video to expand this one.

Shad, being from Czechia, thank you for including Karlštejn Castle in you list! It's a part of our national heritige and it made my day seeing it in your video!

Wow, all of these castles are very very beautiful!! As a Slovak I feel like I should contribute, we have many castles but my all-time favorite is Orava. Trenčín is also very beautiful and I believe both were film sets. I also want to add: Spiš Castle is famous not only for having the largest grounds, but also because it's never fallen while under attack! I remember reading a book to research and that was a fact they listed (I'm pretty sure). There are castles all over the world with cool stories and these are the ones from my family's homeland :) Fun fact! The castle Strečno near the city Martin was the set for the final confrontation in the movie Dragonheart! And I have a funny story along with it. When I visited, my family hung back after the tour, and we got locked in! My sister was the only one who could fit through the iron gate and she ran down to get help. It's was a very... Immersive experience XD

I used to delivery to Bodiam castle, getting there early in the morning and seeing the mist rolling of the moat/lake was always beautiful

I know it’s technically not a castle, although there is a castle in it, but visiting Carcassonne was one of the high points of my life as a lifelong medieval enthusiast.

Finally one of these videos. I know nothing about castles but think they are neat anyways. So seeing Shad describe them with passion makes me want to go see them in person.

One of my favorites simply for the history is Bran Castle. It wasn't the only castle that Vlad had, to my understanding, but it's still a beauty. And while it's not a castle, I also love the look of Guaita Fortress in San Marino.

It would be great to see your favourite castles per country. For France you could even tackle the Britanny and Occitan regions separately. Same with Spain: Catalonia and Granada have very different styles to the northern Galicia, Asturias and Basque Country. It would be so cool to see your take on how castles adapt to different biomes (Mediterranean castles can only dream with moats, especially in summer) and how they evolve over time. In Portugal, there are several castles that I'm sure you'd love, such as Marvão, Óbidos and Évoramonte (this one being so unique). Oh and Elvas! It is a perfect castle example for the time of cannon warfare! Cheers from Portugal!

Chad, have a look at Spanish castles, I'm sure a few would be on the list. Many of them are a merge between a Moorish Alcazars and Cristian Castles. I would recommend to start looking at the Alcazar de Segovia, Alcazar de Toledo and The Alhambra (one of the most beautiful palaces and fortresses in the world).

Really nothing about the Malbork Castle? It is the largest castle in the world measured by land area. You should definetely come to visit it in Poland :)

Since I was young, I've loved castles. I've studied them a bit, and I recognized many of the terms used. This was really cool Shad!

I like castles. I knew only Japanese castles, but I learned that there are many wonderful castles in foreign countries. thank you