this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2026
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Map Enthusiasts

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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.

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[–] porcelainpitcher@lemmy.today 2 points 3 days ago (5 children)

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.

If you go to the website, you can zoom in and click it for details.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 5 points 3 days ago

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

[–] Flightmussy@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 days ago (2 children)

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:)

[–] geolaw@aus.social 2 points 3 days ago

@Flightmussy @porcelainpitcher There is a fort in Brisbane, Australia, Fort Lytton

[–] porcelainpitcher@lemmy.today 1 points 2 days ago

I think the local people are taking the opportunity to do that for you! :) It's great!

[–] Starburn@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] porcelainpitcher@lemmy.today 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Cool! Good comment. Shame you had to post it from your high horse.

[–] Starburn@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Not really, just responding to a dumb comment that relied on AI to inform their response.

[–] porcelainpitcher@lemmy.today 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You practice Yabusame from that High Horseback?

[–] Starburn@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm not the one spouting misinformation, instead of correcting yourself you're just resorting to inane comments. I hope you reflect on what you have learned rather than attack the other person in the next exchange you have.

[–] porcelainpitcher@lemmy.today 1 points 2 days ago

Read the other comments, fool. Don't just point fingers. I'm not the one that started this. You are. By commenting "Goes to show you shouldn't assume you know everything." How's that? By being curious and asking questions? Yep, that sounds like someone who thinks they know everything. Not so great when the horse bucks you off, is it? (I'm not the horse in this case; I'm just keeping with the idiom).