The World's 2,400 Castles
Exploring the Global Strongholds: The Castlemap Project
Castlemap is a complimentary, interactive night-themed atlas that allows users to discover of the most significant castles, palaces, and fortresses spanning different nations.
By panning and zooming through the interface, users can click specific markers to view snapshots and brief summaries, or dive deeper into a landmark's dedicated page to uncover its complete history and precise geographic coordinates.
"From the imposing citadels of the medieval era to the opulent residences of royalty, this represents the most exhaustive castle directory available on the web."
🏰 Architectural Breakdown
The atlas doesn't just list buildings; it categorizes them to help users filter their exploration.
| Landmark Type | Total Count |
|---|---|
| Castles | 937 |
| Palaces & Châteaux | 692 |
| Fortresses | 389 |
| Ruins | 417 |
🌍 Geographic Distribution
While the map covers 129 countries, some nations boast a higher density of these historic sites. The leaders include:
- France: 183
- Italy: 179
- Germany: 176
- England: 152
- Japan: 101
- Spain: 88
- Scotland: 87
- India: 80
- Poland: 77
- Czech Republic: 74
- Sweden: 73
- Austria: 68
- Russia: 60
- Wales: 56
- Turkey: 46
- Slovakia: 45
- Ireland: 36
- Ukraine: 35
- Belgium: 33
- Denmark: 33
🌟 Global Icons
To determine which sites are the most "famous," Castlemap utilizes a fame score. This is calculated based on the number of different language versions of Wikipedia that feature the site.
Top-tier examples include:
- Palace of Versailles (France)
- Forbidden City (China)
- Château de Montsoreau (France)
- The Kremlin (Russia)
- The Alhambra (Spain)
- Buckingham Palace (England)
- Neuschwanstein Castle (Germany)
- Tower of London (England)
- The Bastille (France)
- Windsor Castle (England)
- Fatehpur Sikri (India)
- Potala Palace (Tibet)
🛠️ Behind the Map: Data & Curation
The project is built entirely on the foundation of open-source data. It does not attempt to plot every single wall or tower on Earth; instead, it curates a balanced selection to ensure the map remains usable.
Data Pipeline
To be included in the atlas, a site must meet these specific criteria:
- Possess exact geographic coordinates.
- Have a verified photograph on Wikimedia Commons.
- Feature a dedicated English Wikipedia article.
If you wish to see a landmark added, the best method is to improve its Wikidata entry. Enhancing these open commons benefits all developers, not just this specific map.
Technical Access
The curated dataset is available for public use under a CC0 license. You can download the full list of 2,435 sites in the following formats:
GeoJSONCSV
Example of a data entry structure:
{
"name": "Neuschwanstein Castle",
"country": "Germany",
"type": "Castle",
"coords": [47.5576, 10.7498],
"fame_score": 120
}
🚀 Start Your Journey
Whether you are interested in per-capita statistics, chronological building trends, or simply visual exploration, the map is ready.
Other specialized atlases by the same creators:
TrainRouterSunshine AtlasBeachmapDetourmap
Explore the world's fortresses and palaces today!