Some of the most popular tourist destinations in the world are ancient forts, castles, and battlefields. It is fun to imagine life when swords, cannons, muskets, and bows were the tools of war. In the Middle Ages, rulers erected massive fortifications to shield their people. These unique ruined structures signified power, wealth, and military prowess, and many were placed in strategic spots to guard vital routes. Modern weaponry has largely rendered such strongholds obsolete, but their crumbling walls still whisper stories of bygone eras. This article walks you through ten fascinating examples of unique ruined forts and castles.
Exploring Unique Ruined Forts and Castles
1 Biruaslum Fort
Biruaslum is a towering sea stack in the Barra Isles, west of Vatersay, Scotland. At 72 metres (236 ft) high, the sheer rock hosts the remnants of an ancient fort and a sturdy wall 2 m wide and 3 m tall that sweeps around a semi‑circle for about 90 m. The wall crowns a flat shelf above a rocky gorge separating the stack from Vatersay Island. The best‑preserved section lies on the south‑eastern side, where the fort’s oval stronghold clings to the uphill side of the wall.
Archaeologists can’t agree on who built the fort or why. Its construction style hints at the Iron Age, yet Neolithic artifacts have also been uncovered. The Barra Isles feature heavily in Viking sagas, and the cliff‑top fortress remains a hard‑to‑reach gem that chartered boats from Barra Fishing Charters can still visit.
2 Tughlaqabad Fort
In 1321 AD, Ghazi Malik took the title Ghias‑ud‑din Tughlaq and launched the Tughlaq dynasty in Delhi, India. Obsessed with defending the capital from Mongol raids, he ordered a massive fortress be built in Delhi’s south. Laborers across the city were forced to help, and the result was a sprawling complex covering 6.5 km (4 mi) with housing sections, a citadel, and a royal palace.
The granite walls rise 10–15 m (32–49 ft) high and once featured 52 gates—13 survive today. Underground tunnels criss‑cross the site, and the mausoleum of Ghiyath al‑Din Tughluq stands as an extravagant tomb for the founder. Legend says the fort is cursed: Tughlaq died under a collapsing canopy in 1324, and the site was abandoned by 1327. Thick thorny vegetation now cloaks much of the ruin, though the Bijai‑Mandal citadel remains a popular viewpoint.
3 Castillo de San Marcos
St. Augustine, Florida, founded in 1565 by Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, became a flashpoint for colonial conflict. After a 1668 English pirate attack, the Spanish erected the star‑shaped Castillo de San Marcos using coquina stone—the oldest masonry fort in the United States.
The fortress boasts four bastions, a large ravelin protecting the sally port, and a moat controlled by floodgates. A glacis forces attackers toward cannon positions, while infantry embrasures allow muskets to fire from within the walls. In 1702, English forces bombarded the fort during Queen Anne’s War but failed to breach its walls. The British captured it in 1763, renaming it Fort St Mark, and it changed hands again after the 1819 Adams‑Onís Treaty. Today, the 2.5‑acre stronghold draws visitors to downtown St. Augustine.
4 Pavlov’s House
The Battle of Stalingrad (1942‑43) turned the city into a ruinous battlefield, and amidst the chaos a four‑story building on the Volga’s banks became a Soviet stronghold known as Pavlov’s House.
Junior Sgt. Yakov Pavlov’s platoon seized the house in September 1942 after a fierce German assault that left 26 of 30 soldiers dead. The Red Army fortified the structure with machine guns, anti‑tank rifles, mortars, four layers of barbed wire, and minefields. An underground trench supplied ammunition, while every window turned into a gun post.
German troops repeatedly charged the house, only to be shredded by relentless fire. A PTRS‑41 anti‑tank rifle on the roof knocked out numerous tanks. The defense became a symbol of Soviet resolve; General Vasily Chuikov claimed the Germans lost more men attacking Pavlov’s House than they did at Paris. After the war, the building was rebuilt as apartments, with a memorial brick wall commemorating the fierce fighting.
5 Wolf’s Lair
During World War II, Adolf Hitler commissioned a network of Führer Headquarters across Europe. In 1941, the Organisation Todt erected the Wolf’s Lair deep in the Masurian woods, about 8 km (5 mi) from Rastenburg (now Kętrzyn, Poland). Hitler spent over 800 days there between June 1941 and November 1944.
Camouflaged with bushes, artificial trees, and netting, the complex featured a maze of tunnels, hidden rooms, guard houses, and over 54 000 landmines. Heavy‑weapon‑armed SS guards, anti‑aircraft guns, and radar stations protected the site, while tanks patrolled the perimeter. The Lair gained infamy on 20 July 1944 when Claus von Stauffenberg’s bomb failed to kill Hitler.
In January 1945, the Nazis bombed the fortress, but the thick concrete walls survived. Two days later the Red Army captured the site without a fight, coinciding with the liberation of Auschwitz. Today, roughly 180 000 visitors explore the ruins each year.
6 Berezhany Castle
In 1534, Polish commander‑politician Mikołaj Sieniawski ordered a massive fortress on a marshy island near the Złota Lipa River in what is now western Ukraine. The construction took twenty years, resulting in a heavily concealed 16th‑century stronghold.
The castle featured an entry gate, quarter tower, church, protective bastion, and walls up to six metres thick. By 1630, Italian architects expanded the complex with four towers, lodging, and a second church, and the structure survived attacks by Khmelnytsky’s Cossacks and the Ottoman Turks.
Peter the Great visited twice, and the castle served as a safe haven for royalty. However, by 1908 it fell into disrepair, suffered damage in World I, and was largely destroyed after the Soviet occupation in 1939. Since 1999, Berezhany Castle has been listed among Ukrainian sites in need of reconstruction.
7 Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point
Fort Ticonderoga, perched at the southern tip of Lake Champlain, was built by French forces between 1754‑57 during the Seven Years’ War. Its position at the La Chute River portage made it a strategic gateway between the Hudson Valley (British) and the Saint Laurent Valley (French).
In 1758, 4 000 French troops repelled a 16 000‑strong British assault, but the British later seized the high ground. During the American Revolution, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold captured the fort in a surprise raid, only for the British to retake it in 1777 before abandoning it in 1781. Restored in the early 20th century, Ticonderoga now serves as a well‑preserved museum.
Nearby Crown Point, New York, hosted the massive French Fort Saint‑Frédéric in 1734. After the French withdrew in 1759, the British erected Fort Crown Point, the largest earthen fortress ever built in the United States. The site yielded 111 cannons for the Revolutionary War, but an accidental fire in 1773 destroyed much of the structure, leaving only two stone barracks. Today, Crown Point remains a popular historic attraction.
8 Corfe Castle
Following his 1066 conquest, William the Conqueror ordered a network of castles across England, including Corfe Castle in Dorset. The Norman fortress guarded a gap in the Purbeck Hills that linked Wareham and Swanage.
Archaeology shows the hilltop site was occupied as far back as 8 000 years ago, and a pre‑Norman stronghold existed before 978 AD, the year King Edward the Martyr was murdered there. William’s keep, later expanded by King John and Henry III, featured a triangular layout with three wards, a fine hall, chapel, inner bailey, and domestic buildings.
Elizabeth I sold the castle to Sir Christopher Hatton in 1572. During the English Civil War, Royalist forces held Corfe, but Parliament ordered its demolition after a double siege. A hidden “appearance” door for Henry I was discovered in 2006. Today, the National Trust preserves the ruins, welcoming roughly 200 000 visitors annually.
9 Dunnottar Castle
Dunnottar perches on a rocky headland two miles south of Stonehaven, Scotland, overlooking ancient shipping lanes. Its L‑plan ruins spread over three acres, and the only access is a narrow strip of land with a sheer drop.
The fortress’s design forced attackers onto a steep cliff, making artillery the only viable assault method. Over centuries, the castle hosted William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, and King Charles II. In the 17th century, a small garrison famously held off Oliver Cromwell’s forces for eight months, safeguarding the Scottish Crown Jewels.
Cromwell eventually brought cannons up the cliffs, bombarding the castle and leaving it in ruins. The last active use came in 1715 during the Jacobite Rising. Today, Dunnottar is open daily, and its dungeons are rumored to be haunted—late‑night visitors sometimes hear eerie cries echoing off the cliffs.
10 Golubac Fortress
Perched 4 km downstream of the village of Golubac, Serbia, Golubac Fortress was erected in the 14th century to guard a crucial Danube stretch at the Iron Gate gorge.
The medieval stronghold controlled river traffic via a chain stretched across the Danube, and ships had to pay a tax to pass. Over the centuries, the fortress changed hands repeatedly—Hungarians, Ottomans, Serbs, and Austrians all left their mark. By 1867, it passed to Serbian Knez Mihailo Obrenović III.
Today the complex comprises three sections with ten towers, two portcullises, a citadel, chapel, dungeon, and weapon storage. A moat fed by the Danube once hindered attackers. The 1964‑72 dam raising the river’s level flooded parts of the lower fort, yet the ruins remain a highlight of Danube boat tours.