Men everywhere, as the proverb goes, call their homes their castles.
What the saying leaves out is that a select few men can also call their castle their home.
While you chew on that, let’s take a gander at some of the finest castles in all of Europe thanks to 3D and virtual reality content provider Sketchfab.
Should you have a VR headset (even one as basic as a Google Cardboard), now’s the time to go grab it.
Corvinilor Castle, Romania
Built in the 14th century, this Gothic-style fortress has 42 chambers, two platforms and two bridges for access. It also has a no-longer-functioning “pit of lions” where condemned prisoners were fed to hungry beasts — that in most cases actually happened to be wolves or bears.
Predjama Castle, Slovenia
Perched on the side of a cliff and built inside a cave mouth, this Renaissance castle served as the home to the Slovenian Robin Hood, Erazem Lueger, a robber baron who was forced to hole up in the structure for a year during a siege. Since the castle was virtually impregnable, Lueger taunted his attackers by tossing ripe cherries at them … until he was eventually killed with a cannonball while using the toilet.
Reinhardstein Castle, Belgium
Constructed in 1354, this castle was sold for a price of just 300 marks in 1885 and quickly fell into disrepair thanks to wave after wave of treasure hunters, who tore it apart while looking for a stash of silver and gold that was supposedly hidden inside. A professor acquired the property in the ’60s, entirely repaired it and lived there for decades until his death.
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.