Biggest castles in the world normally conjure beauty, royalty, with awe-inspiring architectural designs that make you wonder the thought that went into making them that beautiful.
There are many castles in the world, built for various purposes at various points in time.
Castles could be found anywhere around the world. In West Africa, for instance, European explorers built castles to protect their areas of trade around the 14th century when they started arriving on the continent of Africa on an initial mission to trade with the people.
The castles built in West Africa could flex their muscles as being among the biggest castles in the world.
In this article, we shall discuss some of the biggest castles in the world that were built at various points in time in the past.
Biggest castles in the world
1. Prague Castle, Czech Republic
The Prague Castle, Czech Republic is one of the biggest castles in the world spotting some breathtaking architectural designs, built in the 9th century.
The Prague Castle is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic.
The castle was a seat of power for kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, and presidents of Czechoslovakia. The Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept within a hidden room inside it.
The Guinness Book of Records has Prague Castle as the largest ancient castle in the world.
The castle occupies an area of almost 70,000 square metres (750,000 square feet), at about 570 metres (1,870 feet) in length and an average of about 130 metres (430 feet) wide.
The castle has over the years earned the Czech government some money as it is among the most visited tourist attractions in Prague attracting over 1.8 million visitors annually.
Buda Castle, Hungary
This is a historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian kings in the capital of Budapest.
The Buda Castle was initially built in 1265 but was rebuilt to its current state after some time. The original Royal Palace was ruined during WWII, it was rebuilt in a simplified Stalin Baroque style during the Kádár era.
Built between 1749 and 1769, the Buda Castle sits on the southern tip of Castle Hill, surrounded by the touristic area known as Várnegyed (Castle Quarter), which is famous for medieval, Baroque and Neoclassical houses, churches, public buildings, and monuments.
Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany
This castle in Germany is one of the biggest castles in the world.
Castles are were built in ancient times for various purposes and for the Neuschwanstein Castle, King Ludwig II, built it as a refuge for himself and also to honour his favourite composer Richard Wagner.
Intended to be a private residence for Ludwig, his death in 1886 changed things as was open to the public shortly after his death.
Since then more than 61 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle with over 1.3 million people visiting the castle annually, as many as 6,000 people visit the facility per day in the summer.
Biggest Castles in the world: Spis Castle, Slovakia
This castle, located in the town of Spisske Podhradie and the village of Zehra, in the region known as Spis, is one of the biggest castles in the world.
Spotting architectural designs such as Gothic architecture, Romanesque architecture, Renaissance architecture, this castle is one of the tourist attractions in Slovakia.
Although the oldest recorded mention of the castle dates back to 1120, it was renovated in the first half of the 13th century with the main body fortified by stone walls to protect the palace from raiding Tartars.
Spis Castle was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993 and it presently functions as a museum.
Malbork Castle, Poland
Malbork Castle Poland in Poland is captured by many sources as the biggest castle in the world, standing at 143,591 square meters, in the town of Malbork, Poland.
From Malbork where the castle is found just an hour’s train journey would take you to Gdansk.
The Malbork Castle was built by Teutonic knights in 1274 as a fortified monastery used by these warrior monks as their headquarters while conducting crusades against pagans in the Baltic territories.
Its construction began in the 13th century.
These are StepCountry’s top five biggest castles in the world, but this is by no means an exclusive list as there are so many castles in the world that are very big and have not been captured here.
These castles are great tourist attractions that you can visit and have a good time as you enjoy great architectural designs.
