Added: 10/09/2005 |
Once dark and gloomy knights castle - today luxurious hotelDue to the prose and poetry, a knight is primarily associated with a romantic image of an elegant man in splendid clothes, rescuing his beloved from the dragon, living in a magnificent knights castle and dining at great feasts. However, a knight, although of a superior social position, was a fighter, subjected to all the dangers of the innumerous medieval wars. That is the reason why the knights castle was primarily built for military purposes; it must have defended its inhabitants, stored arms, housed troops and protected strategic positions. The life during those days was cruel, lawless and brutal, entirely described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, and the early knights castle was not designed for the comfort either, it was dark and gloomy, sometimes even unsanitary during the long lasting sieges. The knights castle bore this image up to the end of the 14th century, when the knights began to think more about comfort and began to show their wealth and rank through the castle building and decorating. Nevertheless, these castles, called Courtyard castles, are not numerous and the last representatives of the castle building movement in many European countries.
Due to the efforts of prominent architects, many medieval castles have been converted into comfortable hotels and offer today a royal hotel stay in their cozy and ancient chambers to its visitors. The visitors can have an excellent vacation and a unique adventure of exploring these ancient historic monuments. There is really much to see inside and outside any medieval knight's hotel. The night, spent in the idyllic royal chambers, may bring a childhood dream of being a respected and powerful knight into reality.
In the Eastern Europe, Poland is abounding in castle hotels with reasonable prices with Western standards. The region of Masuria-Warmia is especially worth visiting, having been the longtime headquarters of the Teutonic Knights more than seven centuries ago. Any knight hotel in Poland is provided with all the modern facilities, and commonly, has tours in English. They offer online booking as well as the other services, such as guided excursions by a horse-drawn carriage, game rooms and sometimes live performances.
In the UK, Ireland seems to have the most deluxe and renowned castle hotels in the world, offering a visitor the unique experience of being, for once, a medieval knight, exploring and examining his magnificent estate. Here we should mention the Glin Castle, one of the most well known historic properties of Ireland. The Glin Castle has been in the ownership of the Fitzgerald family, hereditary Knights of Glin, for more than seven hundred years. The castle is situated one hour drive from Shannon Airport, on the bank of the river Shannon, hidden in the shadows of gardens and parkland. The nearby attractions include Ballybunion championship golf course and three other golf courses, Clonshire Equestrian Center, and Glin village, having the most traditional pub in Ireland.
Certainly, there are many more options of knights hotels in Europe. Nonetheless, the fact is that any knight castle is worth seeing whether it is large or small, well preserved or ruined. It is the best reminder of our ancient past, interesting and peculiar in many ways; having such mastery, we are not able to bring back or reiterate.
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