I built this map from open data. Every point is one of 5,793 castles, fortresses, palaces and ruins across 138 countries: 2,591 castles, 1,180 fortresses, 934 palaces and 1,088 ruins. The density is the story. Europe blazes while most of the planet stays dark.
It is a curated atlas, not a complete inventory. Germany alone has an estimated 25,000 castle sites (According to some sources). A landmark makes the map when it has a real photo on Wikimedia Commons, a Wikipedia article and exact coordinates in Wikidata, balanced across countries so the map stays explorable. France leads with 351.
You can explore every one interactively at https://thecastlemap.com/ with photos, founding centuries and short stories, plus a daily Guess the Castle game. There are no ads or sign up, everything CC0 and free to download.
I’m curious about a Castle, Fortress, or Palace in Melbourne & Sydney Australia… As far as I know there are none of them here… Anywhere. A quick search reveals a theme park named Kryal Castle in Ballarat, a restaurant named Fortress in the CBD of Melbourne, & The Palace Theatre; which was demolished in 2020.
I am not sure how I can verify that there anything specific more in Sydney or Melbourne. I guess I can take an another round to see if there something more there:)
@Flightmussy @porcelainpitcher There is a fort in Brisbane, Australia, Fort Lytton
Castle rose in buff point,
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/central-coast/oncemajestic-castle-rose-at-buff-point-demolished-after-falling-into-state-of-disrepair/news-story/105271437e85857bfb4f38a4078de571
Used to visit it when I was a kid.
Now.demolished.
Goes to show that you shouldn’t assume you know everything.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Macquarie
It was demolished over a century ago and the Sydney Opera House now stands where it used to be. The post description links to an interactive map where you can check each dot
I highly recommend it
https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/places-to-see/parks/point-nepean-national-park/attractions/fort-nepean