Map of the world's great castles and fortresses
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Castlemap is an interactive map of 3,691 castles, fortresses, and palaces worldwide.
The site curates 3,691 landmarks across 131 countries from open data (Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia). It includes 1,706 castles, 543 fortresses, 760 palaces, and 682 ruins. Italy leads with 288 entries, followed by France (276), Germany (254), and Spain (180). The fame ranking uses Wikipedia language edition counts; Versailles ranks #1. The dataset is available as free GeoJSON or CSV downloads under CC0. The map refreshes from Wikidata, so users can contribute by improving Wikidata entries with coordinates, photos, and articles.
What commenters are saying
Commenters noted gaps and inconsistencies: many well-known castles are missing, especially in Ireland, France, Spain, Romania, and Scotland. The inclusion of Ghanaian coastal forts (trading posts) and non-fortified structures like Clarence House drew criticism. The definition of 'castle' was debated-some argued it should require a fortified private residence, not just any named structure. New Zealand and Brazil examples were flagged as absent. The site was described by some as 'vibecoded slopsites' with a generic design, while others appreciated the open data approach and the ability to contribute via Wikidata.