for as long as there have been civilizations there have been walls over a lot of the years those walls turned into magnificent castles and palaces places where Emperors could flaunt their wealth where Kings could defend invasions and where Queens could have some pretty cool parties from a castle built over a bottomless pit that leads to hell to one that hosted a party that lasted 40 days and 40 nights these are some of the most insane castles to ever exist Himi castle thei castle is probably the most remarkable Castle in Japan its nickname is sheris Sai Joe or white EG Castle because of its brilliant white exterior that makes it look like a bird's about to take off across the Japanese Sky the effect is more than just Aesthetics the white Plaster is also fireproof not a bad addition to a castle that's made of wood what kind of wood you may ask well definitely not the kind of wood you can get at Home Depot construction on the castle started in the 1300s but it became the largest Castle in Japan at the turn of the 17th century when Tokugawa yosu took control of it after a battle and his son-in-law built it up into the Behemoth you can still visit today one of the reasons it stood the test of time is because of some clever architectural designs the path to the the main keep of the castle is intentionally complex and mazike meant to confuse would be attackers the main keep also appears to have more floors and it actually does a sort of optical illusion that apparently confused anyone trying to figure out where Defenders were firing their arrows from inside the castle wooden floors called Nightingale floors were installed at certain points they were basically intentionally creaky floors that were designed to squeak like a bird when someone walked across them I mean it's hard to sneak up on someone when you're stepping on birds like a lot of ancient castles Himi Castle has its share of G Stories the most famous is a legend of okiku's well word is said that a ghost of a servant girl named okiku's Heard County the nine before breaking into sobs it said that she was given 10 precious plates to take care of but when she refused the advances of a samurai at the castle he stole one of the plates accused her of losing it and then he threw her down as punishment no von Stein castle first almost impossibly up on the foothills of the Southern German Alps sits a castle that looks like it's straight out of a fairy tale nor vonstein Castle was built by a matad king obsessed with fantasy lands so its fairy tale Aura was intentional it was also apparently the inspiration behind Sleeping Beauty's castle you know this one it said that Walt Disney loved the look of the castle so much when he saw it while he was touring Europe on vacation that he had his illustrators draw something similar for Sleeping Beauty the castle that then became part of the iconic Disney logo the history of the castle and the guy who had built it has a much sadder story though North fonstein Castle was a product of King ludvig II of Bavaria ludvig was a bit of an eccentric he's often called the fairy tale king or matad king ludvig and the nickname is probably Justified he was obsessed with medieval myths and was obsessed with the composer Vagner when you pair that obsession with the fact that he basically didn't have any power after Prussia defeated Austria and Bavaria in 1866 you get one real beauty of a castle louic sunk a fortune into decking the place out with ornate furniture and artwork his throne room was two stories tall and covered in Gold Leaf although the throne room ironically never had a throne however the castle was never fully completed the fairy tale King died mysteriously in 1886 right after he was declared unfit to rule and then deposed taking out multiple lines of credit to Bill an over the top extravagant Castle was a good way to get yourself sacked and he built a couple of Crazy Castles by the way it wasn't in just one here are some of the castles he built let us know your favorite his body along with that of his psychiatrist was found in the lake near another of his castles it said he took his own life but the circumstances behind the death were pretty shady Pima Castle Pima Castle is one of the craziest castles ever built it's actually the largest castle in the world built into the mouth of a cave in South Central slovania a remarkable architectural field during the late 1500s the castle was controlled by a nobleman named arasmus of luig arasmus managed to really tick off the Holy Roman Frederick theii after he took the life of one of his relatives who had offended arasmus by talking smack about one of his dead friends arasmus fled to his kave Fortress and became a robber baron stealing from an extorting nearby towns that were controlled by the Holy Roman Empire eventually Frederick lay Siege to Pima but the castle was so well fortified that it was a near impossible task secret tunnels running under the castle made it easy for Rasmus to sneak in supplies and The Siege slogged on for over a year Frederick III facing a seemingly insurmountable task attempted to starve arasmus out by blockading the castle legend hased that rasmus's downfall came not from military might but from betrayal one of his servants allegedly bribed by the enemy forces revealed the location of AR rasmus's concealed tunnel to Frederick II third's troops exploiting this new found knowledge the Holy Roman forces waited for the opportune moment and launched a surprise attack catching a rosmus off guard while he was using the toilet now I don't know if it was number one or number two but I can only imagine what he said when they walked in htz castle htz castle in Austria is one of the few castles out there still standing that has the rare distinction of never being successfully invaded or breached a big reason for this is the fact that there's a series of 14 Gates that were built along the Steep treacherous path leading to the Castle's entrance it was a gauntlet that nobody wanted to take on the gate Gauntlet as I just decided to name it was built in 1570 but the history of this inane Castle goes back farther than that it pops up in the historical record around 860 in the aftermath of Charlemagne's empire one of the first documented defenses of Hoster witch Castle came around 1335 when a CEST named Margaret of Turell besieged the castle after she was Deni an inheritance claim the Defenders of the besieged castle were creative though they flung an ox filled with R over the wall to make it seem like they were flush with supplies they weren't Margaret and her forces were fooled and gave up on The Siege theying it would last a lot longer than they thought it would after a series of Ottoman invasions the whole gate system was set up the first line of the fence was a location of the castle itself which was perched a top a steep rock that naturally made any approach difficult the gates used a few different types of defensive tactics some featured draw bridges that could be quickly retracted cutting off access others had concealed spikes that could do a whole bunch of damage oh yeah and they had some setups for spewing hot oil on approaching enemies as well according to Legend all would attackers never managed to make it farther than the fourth gate husa castle hka castle in the Czech Republic doesn't make any sense when you think about it it's in a remote area that's far away from any trade routes or borders that would usually justify its construction so why was it built Legend has it that it's there to guard a gateway to the underworld in the early 13th century locals in the area started noticing strange things in the forest surrounding husa there were stories of a bottomless pit where Wing creatures surfaced and ran a muck wanting to see what was going on a Duke had a young criminal lowered into the pit he screamed and when they raised him back up he was 40 years older and had lost his mind so the Duke built a castle and it was an unusual one many of the windows are fake simply painted on the walls many of its defensive elements are are actually oriented towards the inside like they're meant to keep something in rather than out the Castle's Chapel is built directly over the supposed pit which was a strategic Choice according to Legend it was meant to seal the Demonic creatures in the Underworld regular exorcisms were said to be conducted there to prevent evil from escaping the pit throughout the Castle's history numerous chilling occurrences have been reported some accounts mention strange noises emanating from the depths of the castle unexplainable sightings of ghostly apparitions and even claims of demonic manifestations within its walls that's a castle I will not be visiting Chateau D shambour in the early 16th century French King Francis the first decided that he needed an escape he decided to build a grand castle that he could use for hunting Retreats a castle with massive walls and minates that looked like it could defend a full Mongol attack except that the area where he built it wasn't at all in danger of being attacked in any event he started building one one of the most expensive most elaborate castles in history Chateau de Shambo was really extravagant it said that there's a fireplace for every day of the year Francis the first would host wild parties there there's a legend that one of them lasted 40 days and 40 nights although it's uncertain whether Francis was there drinking all the nice French champagne historians think he only spent about 72 days total at his Retreat construction on the Chateau started in 1519 in the leadup Francis brought in none other than Leonardo da Vinci to help with the design but the famous Italian ventor died before work could start on the Chateau in Earnest one of the vent's contributions might be the Monumental double spiral staircase that helixes up through the castle to a glass enclosed Pavilion on the roof because of the shape one person can walk up it another down and they never meet each other along the way when Francis the first died in 1547 the chatau still hadn't been furnished his servants would haul in furniture for each of his visits and then remove it when he left he dumped the equivalent of $ million into the castle but when he died Chateau D Shambo fell into ruin 100 years later Louis the 14th would fix it up in furnish rooms like this one not a bad renovation but I'd be pretty ticked off if I was Francis I mean I didn't even get to enjoy the castle pontac castle one of the most important castles in English History is now a ruin but the stories about it and the events that went down there make it a legendary place it was one of the most formidable castles in medieval Europe a place where wars were won and lost and where Kings were held captive and mysteriously disappeared pontac Castle in West Yorkshire was built around 1070 by a guy named Elbert deazy on land that was granted to him by William the Conqueror over the next few centuries it was built up into a behemoth with thick stone walls and towers that made it nearly impossible to capture nearly control of the castle actually shifted multiple times over the years it was a focal point of a lot of Wars rebellion and courtly Intrigue in 1399 King Richard II was deposed by his cousin Henry IV while he was in prisoned at pontre he supposedly died of starvation maybe from a self-imposed hunger strike many people think his cousin had him taken out in the Castle's jail though other rumors swirled that Richard actually escaped and fled to Scotland during the English Civil Wars which lasted from 1642 to 1651 pontac Castle was Ground Zero for some of the most intense fighting outside of London the war was basically a clash between those who wanted a parliamentary democracy the parliamentarians and those who wanted to keep Divine rights of the monarchy the royalist in 1648 pontre was controlled by the parliamentarians but the royalists were knocking on the door literally it said that a royalist colonel named John Morris and some of his men dressed up in common clothes knocked on the door of the castle and asked humbly if anyone had any straw they could use as bedding thinking these poor peasants who just wanted bedding were not a threat the parliamentarians opened the gates and were met by a secret army that rushed in and took control of the castle now who wouldn't get suspicious of that after the Civil War which the parliamentarians won by the way pontac Castle was seen as a threat to the newly established Commonwealth government Parliament ordered the demolition of the castle leaving only a fragment of its original imposing structure standing thanks for watching what other insane architecture throughout history do you want to learn about but know in the comments and don't forget to like And subscribe for more nutty history for as long as there have been civilizations there have been walls over a lot of the years those walls turned into magnificent castles and palaces places where Emperors could flaunt their wealth where Kings could defend invasions and where Queens could have some pretty cool parties from a castle built over a bottomless pit that leads to hell to one that hosted a party that lasted 40 days and 40 nights these are some of the most insane castles to ever exist Himi castle thei castle is probably the most remarkable Castle in Japan its nickname is sheris Sai Joe or white EG Castle because of its brilliant white exterior that makes it look like a bird's about to take off across the Japanese Sky the effect is more than just Aesthetics the white Plaster is also fireproof not a bad addition to a castle that's made of wood what kind of wood you may ask well definitely not the kind of wood you can get at Home Depot construction on the castle started in the 1300s but it became the largest Castle in Japan at the turn of the 17th century when Tokugawa yosu took control of it after a battle and his son-in-law built it up into the Behemoth you can still visit today one of the reasons it stood the test of time is because of some clever architectural designs the path to the the main keep of the castle is intentionally complex and mazike meant to confuse would be attackers the main keep also appears to have more floors and it actually does a sort of optical illusion that apparently confused anyone trying to figure out where Defenders were firing their arrows from inside the castle wooden floors called Nightingale floors were installed at certain points they were basically intentionally creaky floors that were designed to squeak like a bird when someone walked across them I mean it's hard to sneak up on someone when you're stepping on birds like a lot of ancient castles Himi Castle has its share of G Stories the most famous is a legend of okiku's well word is said that a ghost of a servant girl named okiku's Heard County the nine before breaking into sobs it said that she was given 10 precious plates to take care of but when she refused the advances of a samurai at the castle he stole one of the plates accused her of losing it and then he threw her down as punishment no von Stein castle first almost impossibly up on the foothills of the Southern German Alps sits a castle that looks like it's straight out of a fairy tale nor vonstein Castle was built by a matad king obsessed with fantasy lands so its fairy tale Aura was intentional it was also apparently the inspiration behind Sleeping Beauty's castle you know this one it said that Walt Disney loved the look of the castle so much when he saw it while he was touring Europe on vacation that he had his illustrators draw something similar for Sleeping Beauty the castle that then became part of the iconic Disney logo the history of the castle and the guy who had built it has a much sadder story though North fonstein Castle was a product of King ludvig II of Bavaria ludvig was a bit of an eccentric he's often called the fairy tale king or matad king ludvig and the nickname is probably Justified he was obsessed with medieval myths and was obsessed with the composer Vagner when you pair that obsession with the fact that he basically didn't have any power after Prussia defeated Austria and Bavaria in 1866 you get one real beauty of a castle louic sunk a fortune into decking the place out with ornate furniture and artwork his throne room was two stories tall and covered in Gold Leaf although the throne room ironically never had a throne however the castle was never fully completed the fairy tale King died mysteriously in 1886 right after he was declared unfit to rule and then deposed taking out multiple lines of credit to Bill an over the top extravagant Castle was a good way to get yourself sacked and he built a couple of Crazy Castles by the way it wasn't in just one here are some of the castles he built let us know your favorite his body along with that of his psychiatrist was found in the lake near another of his castles it said he took his own life but the circumstances behind the death were pretty shady Pima Castle Pima Castle is one of the craziest castles ever built it's actually the largest castle in the world built into the mouth of a cave in South Central slovania a remarkable architectural field during the late 1500s the castle was controlled by a nobleman named arasmus of luig arasmus managed to really tick off the Holy Roman Frederick theii after he took the life of one of his relatives who had offended arasmus by talking smack about one of his dead friends arasmus fled to his kave Fortress and became a robber baron stealing from an extorting nearby towns that were controlled by the Holy Roman Empire eventually Frederick lay Siege to Pima but the castle was so well fortified that it was a near impossible task secret tunnels running under the castle made it easy for Rasmus to sneak in supplies and The Siege slogged on for over a year Frederick III facing a seemingly insurmountable task attempted to starve arasmus out by blockading the castle legend hased that rasmus's downfall came not from military might but from betrayal one of his servants allegedly bribed by the enemy forces revealed the location of AR rasmus's concealed tunnel to Frederick II third's troops exploiting this new found knowledge the Holy Roman forces waited for the opportune moment and launched a surprise attack catching a rosmus off guard while he was using the toilet now I don't know if it was number one or number two but I can only imagine what he said when they walked in htz castle htz castle in Austria is one of the few castles out there still standing that has the rare distinction of never being successfully invaded or breached a big reason for this is the fact that there's a series of 14 Gates that were built along the Steep treacherous path leading to the Castle's entrance it was a gauntlet that nobody wanted to take on the gate Gauntlet as I just decided to name it was built in 1570 but the history of this inane Castle goes back farther than that it pops up in the historical record around 860 in the aftermath of Charlemagne's empire one of the first documented defenses of Hoster witch Castle came around 1335 when a CEST named Margaret of Turell besieged the castle after she was Deni an inheritance claim the Defenders of the besieged castle were creative though they flung an ox filled with R over the wall to make it seem like they were flush with supplies they weren't Margaret and her forces were fooled and gave up on The Siege theying it would last a lot longer than they thought it would after a series of Ottoman invasions the whole gate system was set up the first line of the fence was a location of the castle itself which was perched a top a steep rock that naturally made any approach difficult the gates used a few different types of defensive tactics some featured draw bridges that could be quickly retracted cutting off access others had concealed spikes that could do a whole bunch of damage oh yeah and they had some setups for spewing hot oil on approaching enemies as well according to Legend all would attackers never managed to make it farther than the fourth gate husa castle hka castle in the Czech Republic doesn't make any sense when you think about it it's in a remote area that's far away from any trade routes or borders that would usually justify its construction so why was it built Legend has it that it's there to guard a gateway to the underworld in the early 13th century locals in the area started noticing strange things in the forest surrounding husa there were stories of a bottomless pit where Wing creatures surfaced and ran a muck wanting to see what was going on a Duke had a young criminal lowered into the pit he screamed and when they raised him back up he was 40 years older and had lost his mind so the Duke built a castle and it was an unusual one many of the windows are fake simply painted on the walls many of its defensive elements are are actually oriented towards the inside like they're meant to keep something in rather than out the Castle's Chapel is built directly over the supposed pit which was a strategic Choice according to Legend it was meant to seal the Demonic creatures in the Underworld regular exorcisms were said to be conducted there to prevent evil from escaping the pit throughout the Castle's history numerous chilling occurrences have been reported some accounts mention strange noises emanating from the depths of the castle unexplainable sightings of ghostly apparitions and even claims of demonic manifestations within its walls that's a castle I will not be visiting Chateau D shambour in the early 16th century French King Francis the first decided that he needed an escape he decided to build a grand castle that he could use for hunting Retreats a castle with massive walls and minates that looked like it could defend a full Mongol attack except that the area where he built it wasn't at all in danger of being attacked in any event he started building one one of the most expensive most elaborate castles in history Chateau de Shambo was really extravagant it said that there's a fireplace for every day of the year Francis the first would host wild parties there there's a legend that one of them lasted 40 days and 40 nights although it's uncertain whether Francis was there drinking all the nice French champagne historians think he only spent about 72 days total at his Retreat construction on the Chateau started in 1519 in the leadup Francis brought in none other than Leonardo da Vinci to help with the design but the famous Italian ventor died before work could start on the Chateau in Earnest one of the vent's contributions might be the Monumental double spiral staircase that helixes up through the castle to a glass enclosed Pavilion on the roof because of the shape one person can walk up it another down and they never meet each other along the way when Francis the first died in 1547 the chatau still hadn't been furnished his servants would haul in furniture for each of his visits and then remove it when he left he dumped the equivalent of $ million into the castle but when he died Chateau D Shambo fell into ruin 100 years later Louis the 14th would fix it up in furnish rooms like this one not a bad renovation but I'd be pretty ticked off if I was Francis I mean I didn't even get to enjoy the castle pontac castle one of the most important castles in English History is now a ruin but the stories about it and the events that went down there make it a legendary place it was one of the most formidable castles in medieval Europe a place where wars were won and lost and where Kings were held captive and mysteriously disappeared pontac Castle in West Yorkshire was built around 1070 by a guy named Elbert deazy on land that was granted to him by William the Conqueror over the next few centuries it was built up into a behemoth with thick stone walls and towers that made it nearly impossible to capture nearly control of the castle actually shifted multiple times over the years it was a focal point of a lot of Wars rebellion and courtly Intrigue in 1399 King Richard II was deposed by his cousin Henry IV while he was in prisoned at pontre he supposedly died of starvation maybe from a self-imposed hunger strike many people think his cousin had him taken out in the Castle's jail though other rumors swirled that Richard actually escaped and fled to Scotland during the English Civil Wars which lasted from 1642 to 1651 pontac Castle was Ground Zero for some of the most intense fighting outside of London the war was basically a clash between those who wanted a parliamentary democracy the parliamentarians and those who wanted to keep Divine rights of the monarchy the royalist in 1648 pontre was controlled by the parliamentarians but the royalists were knocking on the door literally it said that a royalist colonel named John Morris and some of his men dressed up in common clothes knocked on the door of the castle and asked humbly if anyone had any straw they could use as bedding thinking these poor peasants who just wanted bedding were not a threat the parliamentarians opened the gates and were met by a secret army that rushed in and took control of the castle now who wouldn't get suspicious of that after the Civil War which the parliamentarians won by the way pontac Castle was seen as a threat to the newly established Commonwealth government Parliament ordered the demolition of the castle leaving only a fragment of its original imposing structure standing thanks for watching what other insane architecture throughout history do you want to learn about but know in the comments and don't forget to like And subscribe for more nutty history for as long as there have been civilizations there have been walls over a lot of the years those walls turned into magnificent castles and palaces places where Emperors could flaunt their wealth where Kings could defend invasions and where Queens could have some pretty cool parties from a castle built over a bottomless pit that leads to hell to one that hosted a party that lasted 40 days and 40 nights these are some of the most insane castles to ever exist Himi castle thei castle is probably the most remarkable Castle in Japan its nickname is sheris Sai Joe or white EG Castle because of its brilliant white exterior that makes it look like a bird's about to take off across the Japanese Sky the effect is more than just Aesthetics the white Plaster is also fireproof not a bad addition to a castle that's made of wood what kind of wood you may ask well definitely not the kind of wood you can get at Home Depot construction on the castle started in the 1300s but it became the largest Castle in Japan at the turn of the 17th century when Tokugawa yosu took control of it after a battle and his son-in-law built it up into the Behemoth you can still visit today one of the reasons it stood the test of time is because of some clever architectural designs the path to the the main keep of the castle is intentionally complex and mazike meant to confuse would be attackers the main keep also appears to have more floors and it actually does a sort of optical illusion that apparently confused anyone trying to figure out where Defenders were firing their arrows from inside the castle wooden floors called Nightingale floors were installed at certain points they were basically intentionally creaky floors that were designed to squeak like a bird when someone walked across them I mean it's hard to sneak up on someone when you're stepping on birds like a lot of ancient castles Himi Castle has its share of G Stories the most famous is a legend of okiku's well word is said that a ghost of a servant girl named okiku's Heard County the nine before breaking into sobs it said that she was given 10 precious plates to take care of but when she refused the advances of a samurai at the castle he stole one of the plates accused her of losing it and then he threw her down as punishment no von Stein castle first almost impossibly up on the foothills of the Southern German Alps sits a castle that looks like it's straight out of a fairy tale nor vonstein Castle was built by a matad king obsessed with fantasy lands so its fairy tale Aura was intentional it was also apparently the inspiration behind Sleeping Beauty's castle you know this one it said that Walt Disney loved the look of the castle so much when he saw it while he was touring Europe on vacation that he had his illustrators draw something similar for Sleeping Beauty the castle that then became part of the iconic Disney logo the history of the castle and the guy who had built it has a much sadder story though North fonstein Castle was a product of King ludvig II of Bavaria ludvig was a bit of an eccentric he's often called the fairy tale king or matad king ludvig and the nickname is probably Justified he was obsessed with medieval myths and was obsessed with the composer Vagner when you pair that obsession with the fact that he basically didn't have any power after Prussia defeated Austria and Bavaria in 1866 you get one real beauty of a castle louic sunk a fortune into decking the place out with ornate furniture and artwork his throne room was two stories tall and covered in Gold Leaf although the throne room ironically never had a throne however the castle was never fully completed the fairy tale King died mysteriously in 1886 right after he was declared unfit to rule and then deposed taking out multiple lines of credit to Bill an over the top extravagant Castle was a good way to get yourself sacked and he built a couple of Crazy Castles by the way it wasn't in just one here are some of the castles he built let us know your favorite his body along with that of his psychiatrist was found in the lake near another of his castles it said he took his own life but the circumstances behind the death were pretty shady Pima Castle Pima Castle is one of the craziest castles ever built it's actually the largest castle in the world built into the mouth of a cave in South Central slovania a remarkable architectural field during the late 1500s the castle was controlled by a nobleman named arasmus of luig arasmus managed to really tick off the Holy Roman Frederick theii after he took the life of one of his relatives who had offended arasmus by talking smack about one of his dead friends arasmus fled to his kave Fortress and became a robber baron stealing from an extorting nearby towns that were controlled by the Holy Roman Empire eventually Frederick lay Siege to Pima but the castle was so well fortified that it was a near impossible task secret tunnels running under the castle made it easy for Rasmus to sneak in supplies and The Siege slogged on for over a year Frederick III facing a seemingly insurmountable task attempted to starve arasmus out by blockading the castle legend hased that rasmus's downfall came not from military might but from betrayal one of his servants allegedly bribed by the enemy forces revealed the location of AR rasmus's concealed tunnel to Frederick II third's troops exploiting this new found knowledge the Holy Roman forces waited for the opportune moment and launched a surprise attack catching a rosmus off guard while he was using the toilet now I don't know if it was number one or number two but I can only imagine what he said when they walked in htz castle htz castle in Austria is one of the few castles out there still standing that has the rare distinction of never being successfully invaded or breached a big reason for this is the fact that there's a series of 14 Gates that were built along the Steep treacherous path leading to the Castle's entrance it was a gauntlet that nobody wanted to take on the gate Gauntlet as I just decided to name it was built in 1570 but the history of this inane Castle goes back farther than that it pops up in the historical record around 860 in the aftermath of Charlemagne's empire one of the first documented defenses of Hoster witch Castle came around 1335 when a CEST named Margaret of Turell besieged the castle after she was Deni an inheritance claim the Defenders of the besieged castle were creative though they flung an ox filled with R over the wall to make it seem like they were flush with supplies they weren't Margaret and her forces were fooled and gave up on The Siege theying it would last a lot longer than they thought it would after a series of Ottoman invasions the whole gate system was set up the first line of the fence was a location of the castle itself which was perched a top a steep rock that naturally made any approach difficult the gates used a few different types of defensive tactics some featured draw bridges that could be quickly retracted cutting off access others had concealed spikes that could do a whole bunch of damage oh yeah and they had some setups for spewing hot oil on approaching enemies as well according to Legend all would attackers never managed to make it farther than the fourth gate husa castle hka castle in the Czech Republic doesn't make any sense when you think about it it's in a remote area that's far away from any trade routes or borders that would usually justify its construction so why was it built Legend has it that it's there to guard a gateway to the underworld in the early 13th century locals in the area started noticing strange things in the forest surrounding husa there were stories of a bottomless pit where Wing creatures surfaced and ran a muck wanting to see what was going on a Duke had a young criminal lowered into the pit he screamed and when they raised him back up he was 40 years older and had lost his mind so the Duke built a castle and it was an unusual one many of the windows are fake simply painted on the walls many of its defensive elements are are actually oriented towards the inside like they're meant to keep something in rather than out the Castle's Chapel is built directly over the supposed pit which was a strategic Choice according to Legend it was meant to seal the Demonic creatures in the Underworld regular exorcisms were said to be conducted there to prevent evil from escaping the pit throughout the Castle's history numerous chilling occurrences have been reported some accounts mention strange noises emanating from the depths of the castle unexplainable sightings of ghostly apparitions and even claims of demonic manifestations within its walls that's a castle I will not be visiting Chateau D shambour in the early 16th century French King Francis the first decided that he needed an escape he decided to build a grand castle that he could use for hunting Retreats a castle with massive walls and minates that looked like it could defend a full Mongol attack except that the area where he built it wasn't at all in danger of being attacked in any event he started building one one of the most expensive most elaborate castles in history Chateau de Shambo was really extravagant it said that there's a fireplace for every day of the year Francis the first would host wild parties there there's a legend that one of them lasted 40 days and 40 nights although it's uncertain whether Francis was there drinking all the nice French champagne historians think he only spent about 72 days total at his Retreat construction on the Chateau started in 1519 in the leadup Francis brought in none other than Leonardo da Vinci to help with the design but the famous Italian ventor died before work could start on the Chateau in Earnest one of the vent's contributions might be the Monumental double spiral staircase that helixes up through the castle to a glass enclosed Pavilion on the roof because of the shape one person can walk up it another down and they never meet each other along the way when Francis the first died in 1547 the chatau still hadn't been furnished his servants would haul in furniture for each of his visits and then remove it when he left he dumped the equivalent of $ million into the castle but when he died Chateau D Shambo fell into ruin 100 years later Louis the 14th would fix it up in furnish rooms like this one not a bad renovation but I'd be pretty ticked off if I was Francis I mean I didn't even get to enjoy the castle pontac castle one of the most important castles in English History is now a ruin but the stories about it and the events that went down there make it a legendary place it was one of the most formidable castles in medieval Europe a place where wars were won and lost and where Kings were held captive and mysteriously disappeared pontac Castle in West Yorkshire was built around 1070 by a guy named Elbert deazy on land that was granted to him by William the Conqueror over the next few centuries it was built up into a behemoth with thick stone walls and towers that made it nearly impossible to capture nearly control of the castle actually shifted multiple times over the years it was a focal point of a lot of Wars rebellion and courtly Intrigue in 1399 King Richard II was deposed by his cousin Henry IV while he was in prisoned at pontre he supposedly died of starvation maybe from a self-imposed hunger strike many people think his cousin had him taken out in the Castle's jail though other rumors swirled that Richard actually escaped and fled to Scotland during the English Civil Wars which lasted from 1642 to 1651 pontac Castle was Ground Zero for some of the most intense fighting outside of London the war was basically a clash between those who wanted a parliamentary democracy the parliamentarians and those who wanted to keep Divine rights of the monarchy the royalist in 1648 pontre was controlled by the parliamentarians but the royalists were knocking on the door literally it said that a royalist colonel named John Morris and some of his men dressed up in common clothes knocked on the door of the castle and asked humbly if anyone had any straw they could use as bedding thinking these poor peasants who just wanted bedding were not a threat the parliamentarians opened the gates and were met by a secret army that rushed in and took control of the castle now who wouldn't get suspicious of that after the Civil War which the parliamentarians won by the way pontac Castle was seen as a threat to the newly established Commonwealth government Parliament ordered the demolition of the castle leaving only a fragment of its original imposing.
