Stop #3 Orava Castle (Oravský hrad) sits on a high rock above the Orava river . Dating to the 13th century, Original design was in Romanesque and Gothic style, but it was later reconstructed as a Renaissance and Neo-Gothic building. It is now a National Monument. We were lucky to see it in autumn, with […]
Stop #2 Bojnice is a historical town in central Slovakia. The centerpiece is the Castle, built in the 12th century in Gothic and Renaissance style. The castle wasn’t open to visitors on Mondays, so we didn’t get to tour the inside, which was fine given the day we had planned! Bojnice Castle was originally built […]
Stop #28: One of my favorite cities on this trip was medieval Guimarães. We stayed at an old monastery converted into a hotel. In the fact, the history of the monastery is described below. The city is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a 2012 European Capital of Culture. You will see a picture below […]
Stop 6: The area of Vila Viçosa has been inhabited since antiquity and was a small Roman settlement. It was part of the Visogoth Kingdom and came under Moorish control. In 1217, Moorish domination ended with reconquest by Christians. In the early 14th century, a castle was constructed in the village to protect it from […]
Our first stop on our trip through Portugal and Spain was Tomar, Portugal. There, we visited the Convent of Christ, which was originally a 12th-century Templar stronghold (the convent was founded by the Order of Poor Knights of the Temple, or Templar Knights, in 1118). The Convent and Castle complex are a UNESCO World Heritage […]
Olavinlinna Castle, or St. Olaf’s castle, is a Medieval castle located on a picturesque island, linked to the mainland in the area of Savonlinna which is located in the southeast of Finland. The city was founded in 1639 around the castle St. Olaf, but the castle itself was built in 1475 by Erik Axelsson Tott, to protect the area […]
