Alcázar of Segovia
Alcázar de Segovia
Spain
The Alcázar of Segovia (Alcázar de Segovia) is a medieval castle perched on a rocky crag at the western end of Segovia's old city, above the confluence of the Eresma and Clamores rivers. Existing since at least the 12th century on Roman foundations, it served for centuries as a royal palace and fortress for the Castilian monarchs and once held the treasure of the Crown of Castile. Its distinctive ship-bow silhouette, dominated by the Tower of John II of Castile, inspired the castle in Disney's 1937 animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. After a destructive fire in 1862, the building was restored to its earlier appearance; today it functions as a museum and the General Military Archive of Spain, and is part of the UNESCO Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct (inscribed 1985).
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 40.952479, -4.132177
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 40° 57′ 8.92″ N, 4° 07′ 55.84″ W
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 40° 57.1487′ N, 4° 7.9306′ W
Alhambra
الحمراء
Spain
The Alhambra (الحمراء) in Granada, Spain, is a Moorish palace and fortress complex built between the 13th and 14th centuries by the Nasrid emirs. Its intricate stucco, tilework, and water gardens remain the high-water mark of Andalusian Islamic art.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 37.176037, -3.588275
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 37° 10′ 33.73″ N, 3° 35′ 17.79″ W
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 37° 10.5622′ N, 3° 35.2965′ W
Amber Fort
आमेर का किला
India
Amber Fort (Amer Fort, आमेर का किला) on a forested hill above Maota Lake, 11 km north of Jaipur, was begun in 1592 by Raja Man Singh I, a trusted general of Mughal emperor Akbar, and completed by his successors over the following decades. The honey-yellow sandstone and white marble palace blends Hindu Rajput and Mughal architecture, with the famous Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace) inlaid with thousands of mirror tiles. Inscribed by UNESCO in 2013 within the Hill Forts of Rajasthan group.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 26.986310, 75.850661
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 26° 59′ 10.72″ N, 75° 51′ 2.38″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 26° 59.1786′ N, 75° 51.0397′ E
Belém Tower
Torre de Belém
Portugal
Belém Tower (Torre de Belém), officially Tower of Saint Vincent (Torre de São Vicente), is a 16th-century fortification on the Tagus estuary in Lisbon, designed by military architect Francisco de Arruda and built between 1514 and 1519 under King Manuel I as part of the defence system for the river mouth originally planned by King John II. Standing 30 m tall and 12 m wide on a basaltic rock outcrop and built of local lioz limestone, it combines Portuguese Manueline ornamentation (Order of Christ crosses, ropework, armillary spheres) with Moorish-inspired bartizans and minaret-like turrets. It served as a point of embarkation and ceremonial gateway for Portuguese explorers during the Age of Discovery, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983, listed jointly with the nearby Jerónimos Monastery.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 38.691584, -9.215977
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 38° 41′ 29.7″ N, 9° 12′ 57.52″ W
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 38° 41.495′ N, 9° 12.9586′ W
Bran Castle
Castelul Bran
Romania
Bran Castle (Castelul Bran), 25 km southwest of Brașov in Transylvania, was built by the Saxons of Brașov in 1377 under a privilege granted by Louis I of Hungary to defend the strategic Bran Pass. It is popularly known as Dracula's Castle thanks to its visual resemblance to the imaginary castle in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, though Stoker never visited Romania and Vlad III the Impaler is not believed to have lived here. The castle is today one of the most visited tourist sites in Romania.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 45.515178, 25.367044
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 45° 30′ 54.64″ N, 25° 22′ 01.36″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 45° 30.9107′ N, 25° 22.0226′ E
Castel Sant'Angelo
Castel Sant'Angelo
Italy
Castel Sant'Angelo (Mausoleo di Adriano) on the right bank of the Tiber in Rome was erected between 134 and 139 AD as a tomb for Emperor Hadrian and his family, and was once the tallest building in the city. According to legend, it gained its present name in 590 when Pope Gregory I saw the Archangel Michael appear atop the rotunda sheathing his sword to signal the end of a plague. From the 14th century the popes converted the building into a fortress and papal refuge, connected to St Peter's Basilica by the elevated Passetto di Borgo corridor; the Papal State also used it as a prison whose inmates included Giordano Bruno, Benvenuto Cellini and Cagliostro. Today it is a national museum.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 41.903118, 12.466343
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 41° 54′ 11.22″ N, 12° 27′ 58.83″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 41° 54.1871′ N, 12° 27.9806′ E
Catherine Palace
Екатерининский дворец
Russia
The Catherine Palace (Екатерининский дворец) in Tsarskoye Selo (the town of Pushkin), 30 km south of Saint Petersburg, was the summer residence of the Russian tsars. The estate was given by Peter the Great to his wife Catherine I in 1710; the current vivid blue-and-white Rococo masterpiece was rebuilt by Bartolomeo Rastrelli between 1751 and 1756 for Catherine's daughter Empress Elizabeth, who named it after her mother. The palace is famous for the legendary Amber Room, dismantled and looted by Nazi troops in 1941 and reconstructed in the original chamber between 1979 and 2003. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 59.716045, 30.395458
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 59° 42′ 57.76″ N, 30° 23′ 43.65″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 59° 42.9627′ N, 30° 23.7275′ E
Château de Chambord
Château de Chambord
France
The Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley is the largest of the French Renaissance châteaux. Built for King Francis I from 1519, its rooftop forest of chimneys, dormers, and the famous double-helix staircase make it a singular example of French architecture.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 47.616070, 1.517050
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 47° 36′ 57.85″ N, 1° 31′ 1.38″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 47° 36.9642′ N, 1° 31.023′ E
Doge's Palace
Palazzo Ducale
Italy
The Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale) on Piazza San Marco was the residence of the Doges of Venice and the political heart of the Venetian Republic from the 9th century until Napoleon's occupation in 1797. Its present Venetian Gothic form mostly dates from the 14th and 15th centuries. The palace is connected to the New Prison across the Rio di Palazzo by the famous enclosed Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri), built in 1600 by Antonio Contin, and it became part of the UNESCO Venice and its Lagoon site in 1987.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 45.434211, 12.340592
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 45° 26′ 03.16″ N, 12° 20′ 26.13″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 45° 26.0527′ N, 12° 20.4355′ E
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
United Kingdom
Edinburgh Castle, sitting atop Castle Rock above Scotland's capital, has dominated the city since at least the 12th century. It houses the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny, and an estimated 26 sieges in 1,100 years make it one of the most attacked places in the world.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 55.948611, -3.199833
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 55° 56′ 55.00″ N, 3° 11′ 59.40″ W
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 55° 56.9167′ N, 3° 11.9900′ W
Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace
United Kingdom
Hampton Court Palace on the north bank of the Thames in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, about 19 km southwest of central London, was built from 1515 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who in 1529 gave the palace to King Henry VIII in a vain attempt to save himself from royal disfavour; the building then became Henry's favourite residence. In the 1690s William III commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to rebuild it on the scale of Versailles, leaving the palace in two contrasting styles, domestic Tudor and English Baroque. George II was the last monarch to reside there (the Crown abandoned it after 1737); today the site is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces. Famous features include the Tudor Great Hall with its hammerbeam roof, the Chapel Royal, the Tudor kitchens, the world's largest grape vine and the celebrated garden hedge maze planted in the 1690s.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 51.403684, -0.337696
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 51° 24′ 13.26″ N, 0° 20′ 15.71″ W
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 51° 24.221′ N, 0° 20.2618′ W
Himeji Castle
姫路城
Japan
Himeji Castle (姫路城), Japan's largest and most spectacularly preserved feudal castle, dates from 1333 and earned the nickname 'White Heron Castle' for its brilliant white plaster exterior. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 34.839389, 134.693889
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 34° 50′ 21.80″ N, 134° 41′ 38.00″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 34° 50.3633′ N, 134° 41.6333′ E
Malbork Castle
Zamek w Malborku
Poland
Malbork Castle (Zamek w Malborku), originally Marienburg, is a Brick Gothic fortress built from the late 13th century by the Teutonic Order on the Nogat River in northern Poland. With 21 hectares of grounds, it is the largest castle in the world by land area and the largest brick building in Europe. It served as the seat of the Teutonic Order's Grand Master from 1309 until 1457, when it passed to Polish kings. Inscribed by UNESCO in 1997 and meticulously restored after extensive WWII damage.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 54.040018, 19.027818
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 54° 02′ 24.06″ N, 19° 01′ 40.14″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 54° 2.4011′ N, 19° 1.6691′ E
Mysore Palace
ಮೈಸೂರು ಅರಮನೆ
India
Mysore Palace (ಮೈಸೂರು ಅರಮನೆ), officially Amba Vilas Palace, was the official residence of the Wadiyar dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Mysore from 1399 to 1950. The current Indo-Saracenic palace was designed by British architect Henry Irwin and built between 1897 and 1912 to replace an earlier wooden palace destroyed by fire. Its three stories of grey granite and pink marble domes are illuminated by 100,000 light bulbs every Sunday and during the annual Dasara festival, drawing millions of visitors each year.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 12.305291, 76.653925
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 12° 18′ 19.05″ N, 76° 39′ 14.13″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 12° 18.3175′ N, 76° 39.2355′ E
Neuschwanstein Castle
Schloss Neuschwanstein
Germany
Neuschwanstein Castle (Schloss Neuschwanstein) in Bavaria, built between 1869 and 1886 by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, is the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle. Its romantic Romanesque Revival silhouette overlooks the Hohenschwangau valley.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 47.557552, 10.749696
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 47° 33′ 27.19″ N, 10° 44′ 58.91″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 47° 33.4531′ N, 10° 44.9818′ E
Palace of Versailles
Château de Versailles
France
The Palace of Versailles (Château de Versailles), the principal royal residence of France from 1682 until the Revolution in 1789, is famed for its Hall of Mirrors, formal gardens by André Le Nôtre, and political weight.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 48.804865, 2.120355
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 48° 48′ 17.51″ N, 2° 07′ 13.28″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 48° 48.2919′ N, 2° 07.2213′ E
Pena Palace
Palácio Nacional da Pena
Portugal
The Pena Palace (Palácio Nacional da Pena) in São Pedro de Penaferrim above Sintra, Portugal, was built between 1842 and 1854 by King Ferdinand II on the ruins of a medieval monastery destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. With its vivid yellow and red towers and an eclectic mix of Egyptian, Moorish, Gothic, Manueline and Renaissance elements, it is one of the major expressions of 19th-century Romanticism in the world and is part of the UNESCO Cultural Landscape of Sintra (1995).
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 38.787777, -9.390556
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 38° 47′ 16.00″ N, 9° 23′ 26.00″ W
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 38° 47.2666′ N, 9° 23.4334′ W
Peterhof Palace
Петергоф
Russia
Peterhof (Петергоф), about 29 km southwest of central Saint Petersburg on the Gulf of Finland, was commissioned by Peter the Great as a direct response to the Palace of Versailles, which he visited in 1717, earning the ensemble the nickname "the Russian Versailles". Designed by architect Domenico Trezzini between 1714 and 1728 in the Petrine Baroque style and expanded by Bartolomeo Rastrelli for Empress Elizabeth from 1747 to 1756, with gardens by Jean-Baptiste Le Blond (a collaborator of Versailles landscaper André Le Nôtre), the Lower Gardens contain a famous Grand Cascade and the gilded Samson Fountain symbolising Russia's victory over Sweden at Poltava (1709). Severely damaged during the WWII Siege of Leningrad and rebuilt afterwards, Peterhof is part of the UNESCO Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments (inscribed 1990).
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 59.884512, 29.909235
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 59° 53′ 04.24″ N, 29° 54′ 33.25″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 59° 53.0707′ N, 29° 54.5541′ E
Sanssouci Palace
Schloss Sanssouci
Germany
Sanssouci ("without worry" in French) was built between 1745 and 1747 in Potsdam as the summer residence of King Frederick the Great of Prussia, who designed the building himself in close collaboration with architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff. The single-storey, twelve-room Rococo palace was conceived for intimacy and conversation rather than show, and overlooks a famous terraced vineyard garden. It is the centerpiece of the UNESCO Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin (1990).
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 52.404347, 13.039297
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 52° 24′ 15.65″ N, 13° 02′ 21.47″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 52° 24.2608′ N, 13° 2.3578′ E
Schönbrunn Palace
Schloss Schönbrunn
Austria
Schönbrunn Palace (Schloss Schönbrunn) was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers in Vienna from 1569 until the end of the monarchy in 1918. Empress Maria Theresa, who received the estate as a wedding gift in 1740, transformed it during the 1740s and 1750s into the Baroque ensemble of 1,441 rooms seen today, with formal gardens that include the world's oldest zoo (founded 1752) and the Neptune Fountain. UNESCO inscribed the palace and gardens together in 1996.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 48.184989, 16.311568
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 48° 11′ 5.96″ N, 16° 18′ 41.64″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 48° 11.0993′ N, 16° 18.6941′ E
Topkapi Palace
Topkapı Sarayı
Turkey
Topkapi Palace (Topkapı Sarayı) was built between 1460 and 1478 by Sultan Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, and served as the residence and administrative center of the Ottoman sultans for nearly 400 years until 1856. The vast complex on Seraglio Point overlooks the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara, and houses Islamic relics including the Cloak and Sword of the Prophet Muhammad. Part of the UNESCO Historic Areas of Istanbul (1985), it has been a museum since 1924.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 41.011574, 28.983269
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 41° 00′ 41.67″ N, 28° 58′ 59.77″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 41° 0.6944′ N, 28° 58.9961′ E
Tower of London
Tower of London
United Kingdom
The Tower of London, founded by William the Conqueror in 1066, has served as a royal palace, prison, treasury, mint, and zoo. It still houses the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 51.508217, -0.076188
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 51° 30′ 29.58″ N, 0° 04′ 34.28″ W
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 51° 30.493′ N, 0° 4.5713′ W
Wawel Castle
Zamek Królewski na Wawelu
Poland
Wawel Castle (Zamek Królewski na Wawelu) on the limestone Wawel Hill above the Vistula in Kraków was the residence of the kings of Poland for centuries and is the symbol of Polish statehood. Established by King Casimir III the Great in the 14th century around a Polish Renaissance courtyard, the castle complex includes the Wawel Cathedral where Polish monarchs were crowned. The Historic Centre of Kraków, with Wawel at its heart, was inscribed in 1978 in the very first cohort of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 50.054405, 19.936022
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 50° 03′ 15.86″ N, 19° 56′ 09.68″ E
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 50° 3.2643′ N, 19° 56.1613′ E
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
United Kingdom
Windsor Castle, about 32 km west of central London in Berkshire, is the largest inhabited castle in the world and the longest-occupied palace in Europe. Begun by William the Conqueror around 1070, it has been continuously inhabited and altered by successive monarchs over almost 1,000 years. It is one of the principal official residences of the British monarch and the burial place of Queen Elizabeth II since September 2022 in the King George VI Memorial Chapel inside St George's Chapel.
- Decimal Degrees (DD)
- 51.483789, -0.604042
- Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS)
- 51° 29′ 01.64″ N, 0° 36′ 14.55″ W
- Degrees, Decimal Minutes (DDM)
- 51° 29.0273′ N, 0° 36.2425′ W