Why do we not have castles today?

Because castles were places where armies were housed in Feudal times. The US was settled long after the Feudal system had fallen, and couldn't ever have been established in the US. There are a number of huge mansions in the US, and some in Canada (Casa Loma comes to mind, immediately, and Frontenac, in Quebec).



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Castles have been homes to royal families and Scottish clans for hundreds of years. Today, some castles still belong to these clans. As well as being a visitor attraction, Inveraray Castle is home to the Duke of Argyll and his family.

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After the 16th century, castles declined as a mode of defense, mostly because of the invention and improvement of heavy cannons and mortars. This artillery could throw heavy cannonballs with so much force that even strong curtain walls could not hold up.

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The castlellated form seems to have gone largely out of fashion by the 16th century as the spread of powerful artillery led to the development of squat blockhouse-like forts (see the Military Structures selection guide), although many castles continued in use, mainly as residences, for many centuries.

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As a result, true castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery forts with no role in civil administration, and country houses that were indefensible.

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Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world and has been the family home of British kings and queens for almost 1,000 years. It is an official residence of Her Majesty The Queen and is still very much a working royal palace today, home to around 150 people.

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Converted into a donjon around 950, Château de Doué-la-Fontaine in France is the oldest standing castle in Europe.

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There are over a million castles in the world today, and each of them has a significance of their own. Here are city of castles in the the world that are particularly famous for their grandeur.

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Castle Drogo is a country house and mixed-revivalist castle near Drewsteignton, Devon, England. Constructed between 1911 and 1930, it was the last castle to be built in England. The client was Julius Drewe, the hugely successful founder of the Home and Colonial Stores.

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11 Facts About Castles That You Probably Don't Know: On average, it took about ten years to build a castle. Life in a Medieval Castle: Castles usually had only a few windows, which were very high up the walls to keep out the weather and any enemies.

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Castles, in particular, were instruments of war and occupying or levelling them was the goal of invading armies. In many cases, the castles were then taken over by the victors and re-purposed, but many were dismantled, particularly when the structure could no longer repel attacks by cannon.

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The purpose of slighting was to reduce the value of the building, whether military, social, or administrative. Destruction often went beyond what was needed to prevent an enemy from using the fortification, indicating the damage was important symbolically.

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Germany. The country with the most castles is Germany! It's thought that Germany has around 25,000 castles within its borders.

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The Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork (Polish: Zamek w Malborku; German: Ordensburg Marienburg) is a 13th-century Teutonic castle and fortress located in the town of Malbork, Poland. It is the largest castle in the world measured by land area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Bodiam Castle, among the most famous abandoned castles in England, was built in 1385 by one of King Richard II's knights, who survived the age of the Black Death and was a contemporary of Chaucer. The castle was constructed for protection in battle, with thick armored walls, a portcullis and even a moat.

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There is a reason we have so many well preserved medieval castles still standing today: from spiral staircases built to give those going down the upper hand in battle in case of an attack to the crenelated walls which gave access to archers to shoot at the lower ground, to complex and maze-like moats, walls, and ...

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Citadel of Aleppo, Syria Considered the oldest and largest fortress in existence, Aleppo's citadel sits on a mound that has been inhabited since – incredibly – the middle of the third millennium BC.

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The three main types of castles are the motte and bailey castle, the stone keep castle, and the concentric castle.

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