Keeping Up With the Castle Islands of Europe

In normal summers, the castles of Europe offer a glimpse across time that seems like a brief plunge into a storybook past. This is not a normal summer, though, with one global European power doing its level best to clobber a smaller one beyond recognition, setting off so many squabbles among the capitals it could make one’s head spin. As such, the traveler may begin to see the Continent’s vast repository of castles and fortresses through a different kind of lens — namely, one of harsh historical reality. Stripped of its original function though, there is no denying the romantic appeal of a castle. As John Lennon once sang of a certain kind of taxi where you “climb in the back with your head in the clouds, and you’re gone,” there are some castles that in one way or another really can take you away, such as the ones perched on little islands. Here are a number of the most evocative.Le Mont Saint-Michel, FranceIt is extraordinary and also touristy, but there is arguably no more perfect castle island in the world than Le Mont Saint-Michel in the Normandy region of northern France. Celebrated for its iconic monastery and abbey that reach for the sky high above a windswept tidal island, the rocky 247-acre site was invincible during the Hundred Years’ War and unscathed by World War II. It actually had fortifications long before the feudal period, which imbued it with its present aesthetic.Since 2014 the castle has been connected to the mainland with the addition of a modern bridge, but if the tide rises high enough it can still become submerged. Your best bet is to visit the island by day and stay in the ravishing seaside fortress city of Saint-Malo, an hour’s drive west in Brittany, at a French spa hotel.St. Michael’s Mount, EnglandAfter the people clinging to the Mont Saint-Michel threw their support to William the Conqueror back in the day, the first Norman king of England returned the favor by creating a Norman priory on a little island off the coast of the Penzance headland in Cornwall.Today, the fortress island is linked to the English mainland only by a slender, man-made causeway. The coolest part of this Cornish gem, aside from the setting, is the beautiful castle, which has been in the hands of the St. Aubyn family since the mid-17th century.San Nicola, ItalySunny Puglia is probably best-known for the quirky Trulli houses in Alberobello, with their whitewashed walls and signature conical roofs. Yet the real showstopper of the region is a plunked 22 miles offshore in the Adriatic Sea — the Tremiti archipelago. These “earthquake islands” are surrounded by dazzling azure waters.Among them, craggy San Nicola is home to the 11th-century fortified monastery and abbey of Santa Maria di Tremiti. The hilltop village is also home to the Knights’ Tower, Benedictine cloisters, and the Church of Santa Maria of the Sea.Monemvasia, GreeceThe Byzantine castle island of Monemvasia, in the Peloponnese south of Athens, is a secret Greek stunner. There is only one entrance to the medieval fortress, which clings somewhat precariously to an elevated island plateau connected to the mainland by a short causeway. Prior to 1971, there was no link at all. While there is evidence of settlement as early as Minoan times, the fortress began to take shape around 583, when locals needed to fend off Saracen raids.The lower town, framed by steep walls, is a tangle of ancient houses, narrow cobbled streets and tiny chapels, now with lively shops and cafes in the mix. A narrow path leads to the upper town with castle ruins, the lonely Agia Sofia church, and sweeping Mediterranean sea views. If you stay at Kinsterna, a restored Byzantine manor, you can wake up to views of the iconic “stone boat,” as Monemvasia is sometimes called.Castello Aragonese, ItalyCapri may be the poster child for pretty Mediterranean sea views — and for excess tourism — but the Italian cognoscenti prefer to make a beeline to Ischia, another island in the Bay of Naples a bit north of Capri. Ischia is where you will find the rocky volcanic castle islet of Castello Aragonese, connected to the larger island only by a narrow pedestrian causeway.The imposing rock is awash with lush vegetation except where it is covered with ramparts and other do-not-mess-with-me fortifications. It was the tyrant Hiero I of Syracuse who built the original castle in 474 B.C., but more fortifications came in the 1400s, courtesy of Alfonso the Magnanimous, with the objective of keeping pirates and other marauders at bay.Chillon Castle, SwitzerlandSwitzerland’s most iconic castle, the Château de Chillon, is perched on a tiny island on the eastern shore of Lake Geneva in the Swiss canton of Vaud. The lakeside chateau dates from about 1005, though the site has been occupied since the Bronze Age, built as a fortress to control the strategic road from Burgundy that led to Alpine passes. There is a circular tower at each corner of the castle, which is surrounded by a brooding moat. A wooden bridge has replaced the original drawbridge.Fun fact: Visiting the castle island in 1816, Lord Byron was inspired by the story of a medieval Swiss monk imprisoned there to pen the narrative poem, “The Prisoner of Chillon,” and you can still see his signature in the dungeon.Fort de Brégançon, FranceThis majestic medieval fortress sits on an islet in the French Riviera connected to mainland France by a narrow causeway. It is obscure outside of France because it is not open to the public. Rather, since 1968 it has served as the official retreat of the president of the French Republic — manageable security and nearby beaches add to the appeal.Originally home to an Iron Age settlement, Brégançon traded hands many times before it was bequeathed to King Louis XI of France. The fortress itself dates to 1483, but has had interior makeovers in more recent times. According to French news reports, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife, Brigitte, are in residence at Fort de Brégançon for most of August.

Keeping Up With the Castle Islands of Europe

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