Historic Building sights in Europe
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O'Brien's Castle
A 100m climb to the island's highest point yields dramatic views over clover-covered fields to the beach and harbour. This 15th-century church (Caisleán Uí Bhriain) was built within the remains of a ring fort called Dún Formna, dating from as early as the 1st century AD. You can freely explore the ruins inside and out. Nearby is an 18th-century signal tower.
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Thoor Ballyle
This 16th-century Norman tower was the summer home of Yeats from 1922 to 1929 and was the inspiration for one of his best-known works, The Tower. In a truly inspired setting by a stream, the tower contains the poet's furnishings. Yeats once wrote 'The sand is running from the upper glass, And when the last grain's through, I shall be lost', a quote which you may well relate to after your last grain falls through while you try to find this place. From Gort take the Loughrea road (N66) for about 3km northeast and look for signs – but these are often misaligned – or just missing. Be prepared to ask.
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Franciscan Friary
In 1649 Cromwell's forces made a bonfire of the original 13th-century Franciscan Friary, so most of the present building is from the 19th century. Only two original walls remain. The friary houses a relic and wax effigy of St Adjutor, a boy martyr slain by his own father in ancient Rome.
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Fenton House
One of the oldest houses in Hampstead, this late-17th-century merchant’s residence has a charming walled garden with roses and an orchard, fine collections of porcelain and keyboard instruments – including a 1612 harpsichord played by Handel. The interior is very evocative thanks to original Georgian furniture and period art, such as 17th-century needlework pictures.
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Marsh's Library
It mightn't have the immediate appeal of a brewery or a big old church, but this magnificently preserved scholars' library, virtually unchanged in three centuries, is one of Dublin's most beautiful open secrets, and an absolute highlight of any visit. Few think to scale its ancient stairs to see its beautiful, dark oak bookcases, each topped with elaborately carved and gilded gables, and crammed with books. Here you can savour the atmosphere of three centuries of learning, slow into synch with the tick-tocking of the 19th-century grandfather clock, listen to the squeaky boards and record the scent of leather and learning. It's amazing how many people visit St Patrick's…
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Dungarvan Castle
Renovation is restoring this stone fortress to its former Norman glory. Once inhabited by King John's constable Thomas Fitz Anthony, the oldest part of the castle is the unusual 12th-century shell keep, built to defend the mouth of the river. The 18th-century British army barracks house a visitor centre with various exhibits. Admission is by guided tour only.
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Max Gate
Thomas Hardy was a trained architect and designed this attractive house, where he lived from 1885 until his death in 1928. Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure were both written here, and the house contains several pieces of original furniture. It's a mile east of Dorchester, on the A352.
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Semperoper
One of Germany's most famous opera houses, the original Semperoper burned down a mere three decades after its 1841 inauguration. After reopening in 1878, the neo-Renaissance jewel entered its most dazzling period, hosting premieres of works by Richard Strauss, Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner. Alas, WWII put an end to the fun and it wasn’t until 1985 that music again filled the grand hall. Guided 45-minute tours operate almost daily (the 3pm tour is in English); exact times depend on the rehearsal and performance schedule. Buy advance tickets online to skip the queue.
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Hazeranlar Konağı
Just past the steps up to the Pontic Tombs is the Hazeranlar Konağı, constructed in 1865 and restored in 1979. The restored rooms are fully furnished in period style and have models to illustrate their use.
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Lord Leycester Hospital
Charmingly leaning against the Westgate and a survivor of the 1694 fire, the wonderfully wonky Lord Leycester Hospital has been used as a retirement home for soldiers (but not as a hospital) since 1571. Visitors can wander round the chapel, guildhall, regimental museum and restored walled garden, which includes a knot garden and a Norman arch.
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St Mary's Guildhall
Near the ruins of St Michael's Cathedral is St Mary's Guildhall, one of the country's finest medieval guildhalls. Inside rooms that once imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots, you can view arms and armour, ancient oil paintings and 15th-century tapestries.
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Rådhus
Copenhagen’s grand red-brick Rådhus was completed in 1905. Designed by the Danish architect Martin Nyrop, it reflects many of the trends of its period, displaying elements of 19th-century national Romanticism, medieval Danish design and northern Italian architecture, the last-mentioned most notable in the central courtyard.
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Lynch's Castle
Considered the finest town castle in Ireland, the old stone town house Lynch's Castle was built in the 14th century, though much of what you see today dates from around 1600. The Lynch family was the most powerful of the 14 ruling Galway 'tribes', and its members held the position of mayor no fewer than 80 times between 1480 and 1650.
Stonework on the castle's facade includes ghoulish gargoyles and the coats of arms of Henry VII, the Lynches and the Fitzgeralds of Kildare. The castle is now part of AIB Bank and modern-day bankers may wish to shelter behind the thick walls from populist rage.
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Gazi Köşkü
About 1km south of the Mardin Kapısı, the Gazi Köşkü is a fine example of the sort of Diyarbakır house to which its wealthier citizens would retire in high summer. The house dates from the time of the 15th-century Akkoyunlu Turkoman dynasty and stands in a well-tended park. The caretaker will expect a tip for showing you around.
To get there, it's a pleasant, if rather isolated, downhill walk. Taxis charge TL15.
About 1km further south is the 11th-century On Gözlu Köprüsü (Ten-Eyed Bridge).
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Malone House
Malone House is a late-Georgian mansion in the grounds of Barnett Demesne. Built in the 1820s for local merchant William Legge, the house is now used mainly for social functions and conferences, with art exhibitions staged in the Higgin Gallery. The surrounding gardens are planted with azaleas and rhododendrons, with paths leading down to the Lagan Towpath.
The house is about 5km south of the centre; take bus 8A or 8B to Dub Lane, Upper Malone Rd.
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Palacio de Santa Cruz
Just off the southeastern corner of Plaza Mayor and dominating Plaza de Santa Cruz is this baroque edifice, which houses the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and hence can only be admired from the outside. A landmark with its grey slate spires, it was built in 1643 and initially served as the court prison.
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Universidad Civil
The visual feast of the entrance facade to Salamanca's university is a tapestry in sandstone, bursting with images of mythical heroes, religious scenes and coats of arms. It's dominated in the centre by busts of Fernando and Isabel.
Founded initially as the Estudio Generál in 1218, the university came into being in 1254 and reached the peak of its renown in the 15th and 16th centuries. Behind the facade, the highlight of an otherwise modest collection of rooms lies upstairs: the extraordinary university library, the oldest university library in Europe. With some 2800 manuscripts gathering dust, it's a real cemetery of forgotten books. Note the fine late-Gothic features…
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Aston Hall
About 3 miles north of the centre in Aston (of Aston Villa fame), this well-preserved hall was built in extravagant Jacobean style between 1618 and 1635. To get to Aston Hall, take bus 65 or a train to Aston station from New St station.
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Altes Rathaus
Some of it is a postwar fake, but parts of Hanover's Altstadt (old town) still look appealingly quaint. The Marktkirche in the market square has original elements and so does the Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall, begun in 1455) across the market, and the nearby Ballhof (1649-64), a hall originally built for 17th-century badminton-type games.
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Gladstone's Land
One of Edinburgh's most prominent 17th-century merchants was Thomas Gledstanes, who in 1617 purchased the tenement later known as Gladstone's Land. It contains fine painted ceilings, walls and beams, and some splendid furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries. The volunteer guides provide a wealth of anecdotes and a detailed history.
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Palazzo Comunale
This 12th-century palazzo has always been the centre of local government; its Sala di Dante is where the great poet addressed the town's council in 1299, urging it to support the Guelph cause. You can't miss Lippo Memmi's early-14th-century Maestà, which portrays the enthroned Virgin and Child surrounded by angels, saints and local dignitaries – the kneeling noble in red-and-black stripes was the podestà (chief magistrate) of the time. Other frescos in the room portray jousts, hunting scenes, castles and other medieval goings-on.
Above the Sala del Consiglio is the small but charming Pinacoteca, which features paintings from the Sienese and Florentine schools of the…
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Rathaus
Rising above the Rathausplatz are the twin onion-domed spires of the Renaissance Rathaus, built by Elias Holl from 1615 to 1620 and crowned by a 4m-tall pinecone, the city's emblem (also an ancient fertility symbol). Upstairs is the Goldener Saal (Golden Hall), a huge banquet hall with an amazing gilded and frescoed coffered ceiling.
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La Corrala
One building that catches the community spirit of the lively barrio of Lavapiés is La Corrala, an example of an intriguing traditional (if much tidied up) tenement block, with long communal balconies built around a central courtyard; working-class Madrid was once strewn with buildings like this and very few survive.
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Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu
Behind the Mercat de la Boqueria stands what was, in the 15th century, the city’s main hospital. The restored Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu (Former Holy Cross Hospital) today houses the Biblioteca de Catalunya (The Library), as well as the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (Institute for Catalan Studies). The former hospital’s Gothic chapel, La Capella, is worth poking your nose into for the frequent temporary exhibitions.
The hospital, which was begun in 1401 and functioned until the 1930s, was considered one of the best in Europe in its medieval heyday. Entering from Carrer de l’Hospital, you find yourself in a delightfully bedraggled courtyard garden that is home to…
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Henry Tudor House
At the bottom of the High St on Wyle Cop, the seriously overhanging Henry Tudor House was where Henry VII stayed before the Battle of Bosworth.
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