Palace vs Castle: Schonbrunn Palace (left) vs Neuschwanstein Castle (right)
The difference between a castle and a palace
The main difference between the palace and the castle is that the castle has big walls around it, while the palace is the place that has wast gardens surrounds big buildings around the whole place.
Palaces are still the place where the royal families live these days.
Castles were fortresses, that were being guarded against enemies trough the times, and it is always made on hillsides, so no one can penetrate the walls of the castle, defending the place from above.
To start at the beginning the word ‘Castle’ came from the Latin word Castel, which means ‘The Fort’. So, in practice, this word means ‘the place someone lives in, but it’s surrounded by big walls’ that keep the enemy hart to get in. Only the ones with the permission had the right to get in Castle’s walls. Usually in the center of the castle was the residence of those who were kept inside.
The most common people that lived in Castles were usually kings, lords, or high ranked members of the Church.
The word palace came from the Roman language and it means a wast luxury place for the most famous, but this time, without the walls around it. It was usually the big house in the middle and beautiful gardens around it.
So, the only difference between a castle and a palace was that the palace had no fortresses or walls to protect it, it was more like who can invent the better garden and other objects adjoining the main and the biggest house.
Castles, as we know them today, were built mostly in the 12th and 13th centuries. Made of the hardest stones, they were mad usually in the center of the town and always on a big hill, so the soldiers that were defending the castle could spot the enemy from a faraway.
Most of the time, in front of the gates, were rivers, so it could be more difficult to get in. When the land around was dry, they made the circle of water around the castle by digging and placing water in it.
On the other hand, palaces were made only for luxury and exhibition of wealth. The number of rooms in just one palace was from 800 to 2300 rooms. Gold was everywhere, even on the door nobs, even on the paintings on the cups and tea kettles.
The gardens were so beautiful that some of the houses have more than 200 gardeners at one time.
Some of them had labyrinths made of neatly crafted rows of trees. Everything was full of flowers and great works of gardeners, which worked every single day to keep the outside astonishing.
Some people even say that they found palaces as old as 4 thousand years because they were made for living in them, and no aggressors insight.
In the odors itself, everything was priceless. From the art paintings and sculptures to the furniture.
Some of those pieces can be found and bought now, some need the restorations, some of them are kept during whole this time in a safe environment, that they may just need framing or a touch of cleaning and they are good for using.
But the main part got to their original places, and now they are welcoming visitors all around the world.
Most Beautiful Palaces
It is more than hard to name Palaces and put them in a row. It is because, if some of them is lacking something, the other has it plenty. Not just trough the world, or even continents, but even from one country to the other, styles are different, architecture also, all the way to the smallest details, everything is different from one palace to another. If you are traveling around the world, maybe you should start from the Palace that is near your place of living.
From the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, trough The Forbidden City in Bejing, there is Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, also National Palace of Pena in Sintra, Buckingham Palace in London, Topkapi Palace Museum in Istambul, Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, to the Summer Palace in Bejing…
The list is too long for all of them to be described, but here are just some of them that could make the list because of their beauty and glorious, old days of our world.
Palace of Versailles
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The Palace of Versailles is one of the most beautiful palaces in the world, and it has everything that one of the most luxurious palaces in the world. This is the place that everyone in the should see. The gardens have many beautiful fountains. Some of them are called the singing fountains and during the spring and summer, it is opened from 9 AM to 5 PM.
As the luxury goes, the palace has more than 2100 rooms, and many of them are opened for viewing the pictures that are being kept there. Besides the singing fountains, some sculptures are, taking you back in those days where the most important people walked the rows with sculptures.
Schonbrunn Palace
This beauty in Vienna is one of the more important palaces in the world. During the 18th century, Maria Theresia lived there, and sculptures, paintings, and furniture were exactly at is was during the time of her ruling. The whole palace has 40 big rooms, and it’s usually full of visitors who are eager to see the way of living in those days. Schloss Hof Estate was the name of the castle in the middle, from where you can see the great wide fields filled with flowers and separate gardens.
All that you can have on your mobile phone because they mad an App that will ‘walk you through the whole estate inside as well as the outside. You can see in close every picture, every chair or sofa, every flower up close.
Topkapi Palace
Topkapi Palace made also into a museum is settled in Istanbul, Turkey. Museum holds precious exhibits, from the Ottoman Empire, and besides the luxury that it has, this place has one of the biggest libraries from the old times. Not only in books, but this place also has extensive manuscripts dating many centuries ago.
Once there was the administrative center for all people, and also served as a court for punishment.
It was known that Topkapi had about thirty sultans that ruled from this palace. All of them were part of the Ottoman Empire, and they rued for 600 years in a row.
Today, this palace is a museum and it’s been like that 1924.
Royal Palace of Madrid
The Royal Palace in Madrid was once the main place for gathering people and celebrating big state events. In Spanish, it is called Palacio Real de Madrid, and these days it’s not that much used, except for the highest events in Spanish history.
Once, The Royal Families lived there, now it is a great monument of the wealth that was obvious. Except for the ceremonials, this palace is the real museum of the architecture and city’s lifestyle in the 18th century, when it’s been made.
Buckingham Palace
The Buckingham Palace was used as the official London residence of the United Kingdom since 1873. Since then, many monarchs were there and used it as their homes. Even though it was used by the Queen most of the time, during the summer it’s being used for visitors around the world. It is estimated that over 50 thousand people come here every year to see the Place where Queen lives.
One of the more important places is the famous Terrace, where Queen Victoria held her first speech in 1851 for the Great Exhibition that was held in the garden of Buckingham Palace.
The Winter Palace
The Winter Palace was used for Russian Emperors for almost 200 hundred years. In Sent Petersburg Russian elders were in the palace from 1732 up until 1901. Today it is a real opened palace and a piece of Hermitage Museum. It was built little by little every year for almost 100 years from late 1730 to up to 1837 when it was finished with its full glory.
Almost just several weeks this palace was severely burned by the great fire, so the work on the repairing of the Winter Palace was rebuild again.
In 1917 Winter Palace was stormed and demolished, which presented the first step toward the Rusian Revolution as a symbol of freedom.
Most Beautiful castles
This is one of the hardest tasks where thous who are left behind. Europe has the most impressionable castles in the world. Maybe even the most famous in the world. Some are older than 3 centuries ago but made slight changes because the war’s all of them went through.
Let’s start from Eltz Castle in Germany, Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, Mont-Saint-Michel Bay in France, Windsor Castle in England like the Bodiam Castle also from England, in Spain the Alhambra Castle, South Italy has Castel del Monte, while Ireland they have Kilkenny Castle.
Just think of the Dracula, there is his castle, named Bran Castle in Romania, Edinburgh Castle in Scotland while on the same island there is also Eilean Donan Castle, Château de Suscinio makes France more beautiful for another vote to the Hohenwerfen Castle in Austria. Those are the little sum of the biggest Castles in the whole of Europe.
Eltz Castle, Germany
This is one of the best presentations that the Castle should look at. It’s settled in Wierschem in Germany. Made on the top of the hill, visible from far off. On the top are towers that were used to keep the castle as safe as possible.
Around the whole castle is a wooden scenery that gives a palace a magical image from far away. Since it is in Germany, it’s a piece of pure luck that this castle was intact, so after the war, there was no need for repairs.
Because it’s not that near to the center of the town, if you are going single, maybe you could rent a bike. Everything in the castle was kept as it was and made into a museum where you can find the beauties from almost 900 years ago.
Mont-Saint-Michel, France
Monts-Saint-Michel is one of the great examples where the castle should stand. It is surrounded by water, from every place, and the only road goes to the gates of the castle. Of its beauty tells that every single year more than 2,5 million people getas to see this beautiful place.
The castle is on the island, and it is pretty far from Paris, so if you want to see everything there is to see you have to plan to stay near maybe just one night, so you will be able to see everything this Castle offers.
Except for its strategic place, the Merovingians that lived there and ruled from the castle, this place has also cultural, religious, and other values that make it a great place to spend the night and roam around the rooms that are real art in living colors.
Windsor Castle, England
Windsor Castle is special in many ways. Even though it’s a castle, it’s also open for visitors, who can have a nice walk all over the most beautiful gardens that one castle has. This place is the most occupied and it was free to look around all through the year. Even winters there look like a place where magic can happen.
It is made in the 11th century. It was known by the 39 monarchs that lived there or spent their summers in this castle. These days The Queen spends almost every weekend in the castle. Even she loves the greenery and the art that is being displayed inside as well as outside.
Alhambra, Spain
Alhambra is a Spanish castle that got named by its red color, and it is located in Granada. In Arabic the word Al-Ḥamrāʾ which means ‘The Red One’
Made more than ten thousand years ago by Roman, as a small fortress, for then to rest and hide, its full glory got in the 13th century by the Nasrid dynasty.
That was the last Islamic castle in Eastern Europe. After great neglect during the years, because the Council of Kings banned Muslims to have a place to pray in Spanish lands, the castle was in ruins.
Form 1984 this castle got UNESCO protection, and almost everything was back into its previous shape. With a river at the north side, with the mile-long surrounding walls, along with towers for warriors to see troops of the other army’s. One of the places that should be seen if in Spain.
