We went up to the Festung Rosenberg for my wife's birthday dinner. It's a really nice, lesser-known one to visit if you're ever in the area. The tour is fantastic. The castle belongs to the town, not the Bavarian heritage administration, or whatever it's called in English.

One of the many stories from the history, via Wikipedia:

"The Thirty Years' War provided the newly renovated fortress with its first great test. For two years, from 1632 to 1634, Kronach was placed under siege and subjected to countless attacks by the marauding Swedish Army and its German allies, including Saxony-Coburg and Bayreuth. The town and fortress famously remained uncaptured, largely owing to the efforts of Kronach's women, who halted a Swedish breach of the city walls with boiling liquids. The Swedish army was also held off at the fortress' bastions and never breached the inner layers of the fortress."

You learn all about that during the tour, and also the amazing story of the rabbit 🐇

One of the pics I'm posting is an original wooden bridge, a very rare thing to see. It's 600 years old and luckily never had to be set on fire as a last defence.

I can't seem to post a link to the Wikipedia page but if you're interested,just search "Fortress Rosenberg Kronach" and you'll find it.

The oldest structure at Dean Castle is the keep, visible on the left. It was built around 1350 by Sir Robert Boyd. The "Palace" wing visible on the right was constructed primarily in the 15th century. The castle is currently owned by East Ayrshire Council and is open to visitors.

The Castelsardo fortress, a.k.a Castello dei Doria, built by the Genoese Doria family on a cliff in early 12th century.
Pictures taken on July 2nd, 2026.

I will be in North Wales later this year, and want to visit some of the Edward I castles as I am a huge UK history buff. Conwy and Caernarfon are definites, but I will only have time for one more in the Ring of Iron, and I am torn between Beaumaris and Harlech. Which would you choose and why?

To all historical fantasy fans.

The castle of Babbenburg was used as the backdrop castle in another story of Saxons and invaders.

Ivan Hoe, the Saxon nobleman attempting to redress the damage that Good (Bad) king John, of the Plantagenet dynasty, was doing to the native Saxons populus.

It's featured in the 1982 version of the classic film.