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12 Medieval Castles: How Long Did They Take to Build?

Twelve real castles, from the Crusader fortresses of Syria and Lebanon to the great castles of England and Wales. Each page gives the building period from a named source, an estimate of the stone, where the stone came from, a photo with its license, and a legend or two. Then you can rebuild it yourself in the calculator.

• Krak des Chevaliers · Syria · 129 years (1142 to 1271)
  The mighty Krak is said to have surrendered in 1271 because of a forged letter telling the garrison to give up.
• Margat Castle · Syria · 99 years (1186 to 1285)
  A secret tunnel is said to run from the castle to a watchtower down the hill. No evidence of it has turned up.
• Kerak Castle · Jordan · 46 years (1142 to 1188)
  The man who began Kerak in 1142 was, by title, a butler: Pagan the Butler.
• Beaufort Castle · Lebanon · 51 years (1139 to 1190)
  Its lord claimed to be on Saladin's side, won three months, and used them to repair the walls and stock up on food. So the chroniclers tell.
• Château Pèlerin (Atlit) · Israel · 2 years (1218 to 1220)
  Pilgrims are said to have helped build it, hence the name Pilgrim's Castle. It was never taken in a siege.
• Kyrenia Castle · Cyprus · 3 years (1208 to 1211)
  In 1460 a queen sailed out of her besieged castle to fetch help, and sailed back in.
• Miravet Castle · Spain · 155 years (1153 to 1308)
  Rumour says the Templars hid a treasure here. There is a "treasure tower" beside the chapel, but we found no source for a hoard.
• Peñíscola Castle · Spain · 13 years (1294 to 1307)
  A pope lived in this castle by the sea: Benedict XIII, from 1411. A secret tunnel to the shore is said to exist, but no trace has been found.
• Calatrava la Nueva · Spain · 4 years (1213 to 1217)
  The whole castle-convent rose in about four years, 1213 to 1217. Local lore says prisoners from the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa built it.
• Dover Castle · England · 10 years (1179 to 1189)
  A skull once kept here was said to be Sir Gawain's, King Arthur's knight. William Caxton mentions it in 1485.
• Rochester Castle · England · 9 years (1127 to 1136)
  In 1215 the king's men burned the fat of forty pigs to bring down a tower of the keep. It is documented.
• Beaumaris Castle · Wales · 35 years (1295 to 1330)
  Begun in 1295, worked on for about 35 years, and never finished. Local lore adds a ghost near the chapel.