Smlednik Castle was presumably built in the 12th century on the foundations of a prehistoric fort and a Roman stronghold of a later origin. The strategic location of the hill overlooking a crossing of the Sava River was appreciated by the first lords of the region, the Counts of Weimar Orlamunde, who built a defence tower on the hilltop in the 11th century. The tower was then expanded in several phases, but remained unaltered after 1610 and is thus the purest example of the architectural development of a mid-sized medieval castle in central Slovenia.
The famous Slovenian chronist Janez Vajkard Valvasor reffered to the Smlednik castle as a ruin already in the second half of the 17th century.
The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.