Lauvenburg castle is a typical medieval castle, surrounded by water and in very good condition. The castle is situated on the outskirts of the village and appears very romantic with its old stock of trees. The moats of the two-part castle are still fed via the medieval mill-race, which was diverted from the Rotbach stream.
The fore-castle was reconstructed in new-gothic style after a fire in 1868. Behind a yard with a walled manure heap, flanked by farm-buildings, the main castle building stands in late-gothic style. The wooden gallery in the inside of the yard and the remains of high fortified walls at the front of the yard bear witness to violence in the past. In 1408 the castle was first recorded, as fiefdom and open-house of the Duke of Jülich, whose feudal vassals used it as a base for their livelihood as robber-barons. Although it was mostly owned by Cologne families, it appeared in 1603 on a list of knights' country seats.
It was reconstructed as a country residence in the 17th century by Privy Councillor Johann Heinrich Cramer von Clauspruch of the Palatinate. In 1760 it was sold to the French Couunt Latour, who was dispossessed by the French Revolution.
The castle has been privately owned until today.
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The Walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification system of antiquity, and one of the most complex and elaborate systems ever built. They were also the largest and strongest fortification in both the ancient and medieval world.
Initially built by Constantine the Great, the walls surrounded the new city on all sides, protecting it against attack from both sea and land. As the city grew, the famous double line of the Theodosian Walls was built in the 5th century. Although the other sections of the walls were less elaborate, they were, when well-manned, almost impregnable for any medieval besieger.