Eleven castles, palaces and fortified cities, from Neuschwanstein, Versailles and Prague Castle to the Moscow Kremlin, the Alhambra, the Potala Palace and Mont Saint-Michel, with the secrets hidden behind their walls.
Castles and palaces were built to impress, to defend and to rule, and many of them still do all three. This collection visits eleven of the most famous: the fairytale Neuschwanstein and the gilded Versailles, the vast Prague Castle and the Moscow Kremlin, Spain's Moorish Alhambra, Tibet's Potala Palace, the Grand Palace of Bangkok and India's Amber Fort, the Hungarian Parliament on the Danube, and two fortified wonders of France, Carcassonne and Mont Saint-Michel.
Their stories are full of surprising details. King Ludwig II lived at Neuschwanstein for only 172 days, its throne room has no throne, and it inspired Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle. Versailles' fountains used more water than the whole of Paris, while the Potala Palace's walls are painted with milk, honey and sugar. Accessing the Czech crown jewels at Prague Castle requires seven different keys, and the Kremlin's giant bell has never rung.
Many of these buildings were saved against the odds. A brave hero protected the Alhambra from Napoleon's army and the writer Washington Irving rescued it from neglect, Carcassonne was spared from demolition by a 19th-century author, and Mont Saint-Michel survived a 30-year English siege before becoming a prison known as the "Bastille of the Seas". The Rolling Stones even paid for Prague Castle's lighting.
From the Hungarian Parliament's 365 towers to Bangkok's miniature Angkor Wat, each place below has fifteen facts waiting to be discovered.
Every item on this page, with the one fact most people get wrong about it.
| Name | Where you'll meet it | The fact worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Neuschwanstein Castle | Bavaria, Germany | King Ludwig II lived there for only 172 days. |
| Versailles | Near Paris, France | Its fountains consumed more water than the whole of Paris. |
| Prague Castle | Prague, Czechia | The Rolling Stones paid for its modern lighting system. |
| Moscow Kremlin | Moscow, Russia | Its giant bell has never rung and its giant cannon has never fired. |
| Alhambra | Granada, Spain | The Court of the Lions features twelve white marble lions. |
| Potala Palace | Lhasa, Tibet | It is the highest ancient palace on Earth, at 3,700 metres. |
| Grand Palace of Bangkok | Bangkok, Thailand | It was built in 1782 using bricks from the ruined capital of Ayutthaya. |
| Amber Fort | Jaipur, India | A secret tunnel connects it to Jaigarh Fort. |
| Hungarian Parliament | Budapest, Hungary | Its architect never saw it finished. |
| Carcassonne | Occitanie, France | A legendary pig is said to have tricked an emperor into lifting a siege. |
| Mont Saint-Michel | Normandy, France | A small garrison held out against a 30-year English siege. |
Highest Palace
3,700 m
The Potala Palace in Lhasa is the highest ancient palace on Earth. Potala Palace
Largest Ancient Castle
Prague Castle
Prague Castle is recognised as the largest ancient castle complex in the world. Prague Castle
Most Candles
20,000 a night
Versailles needed around twenty thousand candles every night to light its rooms. Versailles
Most Towers
365
The Hungarian Parliament Building is crowned with 365 Gothic towers. Hungarian Parliament
Bavaria, Germany
Neuschwanstein, the "New Swan Stone", inspired Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle and was built on the ruins of two older castles. Its throne room has no throne, and Ludwig even planned an animatronic peacock. The Nazis later hid thousands of stolen artworks inside.
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Near Paris, France
Versailles' Hall of Mirrors was designed to intimidate, yet the palace was notoriously filthy. Marie Antoinette's peasant village was a working farm, and the palace needed 20,000 candles a night. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in the Hall of Mirrors.
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Prague, Czechia
Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle complex in the world and has been a seat of power for more than eleven centuries. Its crown jewels need seven keys, and the 1618 defenestration there sparked a European war. Franz Kafka wrote in a tiny cottage on Golden Lane.
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Moscow, Russia
The Kremlin was designed by Italian architects, and its walls were originally white. Napoleon tried to blow it up, and it was camouflaged in World War II. Its glowing ruby stars replaced imperial eagles.
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Granada, Spain
The Alhambra, "the red fortress", was built by Spain's last Muslim dynasty and its walls are covered in carved Arabic poetry. A hero saved it from Napoleon's army, and Washington Irving helped rescue it from neglect. Daily visitor numbers are capped to protect the fragile stucco.
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Lhasa, Tibet
The Potala Palace has more than 1,000 rooms and was built without steel beams or iron nails. Its walls are painted with milk, honey and sugar, and the Fifth Dalai Lama's tomb uses tons of gold. Its toilets drop 60 metres.
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Bangkok, Thailand
The Grand Palace covers 218,000 square metres and houses the sacred Emerald Buddha, whose robes are changed with the seasons. Its inner court was guarded by an all-female force, and giant yakshas protect the gates. It even contains a miniature Angkor Wat.
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Jaipur, India
Amber Fort was built in the late 16th century by Raja Man Singh I and blends Rajput and Mughal styles. Its Sheesh Mahal glitters with mirrors, and a carved marble "magic flower" shows different designs as you cover parts of it. Clever water channels kept its rooms cool.
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Budapest, Hungary
The Hungarian Parliament is 96 metres tall in honour of the Magyar settlement of 896 and has 365 Gothic towers. It was built only from domestic materials and had one of the earliest air-conditioning systems, cooled with ice. It houses the Holy Crown of Hungary.
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Occitanie, France
Carcassonne is Europe's largest fortified medieval city, with a double ring of walls and 52 towers. A 19th-century author saved it from demolition, but its restored "witch's hat" roofs remain controversial. It stood in for Nottingham Castle in Hollywood and inspired a famous board game.
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Normandy, France
Mont Saint-Michel rises from tidal flats with some of Europe's most extreme tides. Prisoners once worked a giant treadwheel crane, earning it the name "Bastille of the Seas". A golden archangel on top doubles as a lightning rod.
Read the full article →8 questions, every answer is somewhere above.
1. How many days did King Ludwig II actually live at Neuschwanstein?
2. Which band paid for Prague Castle's modern lighting?
3. What colour were the Kremlin walls originally?
4. What does the name "Alhambra" mean?
5. What are the Potala Palace's outer walls painted with?
6. What did male visitors have to rent to enter Versailles?
7. Which animal legend is said to have saved Carcassonne from a siege?
8. What nickname did Mont Saint-Michel earn as a prison?
Yes. King Ludwig II's fairytale castle in Bavaria directly inspired Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle. Ludwig paid for it with private debt, and it opened to paying visitors just weeks after his death.
No. The president works in the Kremlin but does not live there. A helipad was even built so his travel would not cause traffic jams in Moscow.
The treaty ending World War I was signed in the Hall of Mirrors in 1919, deliberately chosen to humiliate Germany, whose empire had been proclaimed in the same room.
The Nasrid dynasty, the last Muslim dynasty in Spain, built most of it in the 13th and 14th centuries. Its walls and ceilings are covered in carved Arabic poetry and complex geometric patterns.
Yes, again. A modern bridge replaced an old causeway so that the tides, among the most extreme in Europe, can flow around the mount and restore its true island status.
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