Lego Castles by Bob Carney

This is not an official Lego site.

These castles were all built by Bob Carney using standard Lego bricks and parts. Each castle is a scale model of a real European or Middle Eastern medieval castle. The first phase of each new project begins with in depth research, originally in libraries and now mostly on the internet, and then drawing the plans to "Lego scale", typically using 1/8" graph paper for plans, and elevations as well. Once I'm reasonably sure I've got enough of each kind of Lego brick needed to complete the project, I'm ready to build. The castles each take unique elements, so I'm often ordering some parts.

I've just finished building my 153rd castle in Lego. It's the Castello di Torrechiara, a massive fortress on a hill in Emilia-Romagna (near Parma) in northern Italy. It's an awesome castle and the favorite of our dear friend, Dan Vallauri, who was kind enough to take Judy and me on a whirlwind two day tour of his homeland in September 2013, despite living and working in Monaco. Castle #152 is called the Château de Ranrouët. It is located in what is now the Loire-Atlantique Department in northwestern France. It traveled to Brickworld in Schaumburg, Illinois June 16-19, 2016. I hope you were among the 15,000 plus who saw it on Father's Day weekend, and perhaps enjoyed a dinner and tournament at nearby Medieval Times. And here is a link to castle #151: a fascinating castle in Baixo Alentejo, Portugal called Castelo de Beja. You should also note my #147, the awesome Caernarfon Castle in northern Wales, home to the Princes of Wales for about 700 years. It was displayed at Brickworld Chicago in June 2015. I took time-lapse pictures of that build for Cadw: Welsh Government Historic Environment Service, which can be seen at YouTube.com. Otherwise, I've arranged the castles I've built by their country of origin. Just click on any of the castle names that interest you (or all of them if you like) and you'll be treated to several photographs and a plan of the real castle, a brief history (possibly with personal notes) and pictures of my Lego model. There's also a Build Your Own section with my working Lego plans and one or more URLs referring you to related castle sites on the World Wide Web.

You can also click on the name of the country where the castles are located (or the small picture) to link to a Castle Locator Map, with castles listed in the order I built them [these maps are several years out of date. A project for the future!]. Also, after countless emails, I've decided to include a FAQ section which will hopefully answer most general questions. I'd still like to hear your comments! An updated castle lineage is now available -- it shows the order in which the castles were built and in which country the castle is located. The castle currently under construction is also noted, as applicable.

I have also added a page for novice but enthusiastic castle builders which is basically made up of several of my early castles which have largely been ignored on this Main Page due to the larger later edition. Pictures of the smaller castles plus available plans and elevations can be found at Early Castles and should be more rewarding for the beginner. There is also a Castle Builders' Page where you can enjoy the efforts of some your colleagues! I will update it as regularly as I receive input from various Lego friends.

While researching and modeling castles is my love, occasionally I use my Lego to build other things. Here's my favorite non-castle projects on a page entitled Trains, Ships and Other Stuff, including my 22-oar Viking longboat. And in the spring of 2011 I built to mini-fig scale the Tomb of Queen Nefertari, Great Wife of Pharaoh Ramesses II, located in the Valley of the Queens in Egypt. The ancient artwork is not Lego hieroglyphics, but authentic. In addition, I've assembled, at the suggestion of my friend Dan Vallauri in Monaco, a page which I call Lego Bar Art. When my wife Judy and I remodeled our lower level in 2000 (see Storage System below), the playroom bar was covered with 48-stud Lego baseplates. I've been doing "mosaic art" on the bar face ever since, and I've decided to show it off, since others might enjoy making their own variation(s) on this theme. Let me know what you think.

Then there is a page describing the history, design, purchase and setup of my plastic tip-out bin storage system. If you are thinking about a major alteration in the way you are sorting and storing your Lego bricks, and you are willing to spend a fair amount of money for the huge convenience, then click on the link above. And don't forget about BrickWorld 2016 at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center in Schaumburg, Illinois next June. I'll be there with a castle or two - to be announced. Finally, you will see no advertising on my webpage, but I must put in a plug for BrickJournal. And thank you all very much for visiting my Lego Castles webpage!

Wales
Beaumaris
Caernarfon
Caerphilly
Carreg Cennen
Castell Coch
Chepstow
Conway
Dinefwr
Grosmont
Harlech
Kidwelly
Monnow Bridge
Rhuddlan
Weobley

Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, and The Netherlands
Aigle (Switzerland)
Chillon (Switzerland)
Crupet (Belgium)
Muiderslot (Netherlands)
Neuschwanstein (Germany)
Prunn (Germany)
Stahleck (Germany)
Stegeborg (Sweden)
Die Wartburg (Germany)

Italy, Spain and Portugal
Adranò (Sicily)
Almourol (Portugal)
Beja (Portugal)
Castel del Monte (Italy)
Fuensaldaña (Spain)
Mareccio [Maretsch] (Italy)
La Mota (Spain)
Rocca Scaligera (Sirmione, Italy)
San Giorgio (Mantua, Italy)
Torre de Belém (Portugal)
Torrechiara (Italy)

Eastern Europe and the Near East
(Poland, Romania, Hungary, Estonia, Croatia, Israel, etc.)
Bedzin (Poland)
Belvoir (Israel)
Bran (Romania)
Diósgyõr (Hungary)
Dubovac (Croatia)
Kuressaare (Estonia)
Vajdahunyad (Romania)