As the UK crowns a new monarch, we’re exploring all things royal, from castles to grand tours. “Castles are places were plots were hatched, marriages were consummated, murders carried out, royal babies born, and so on. With castles, you are never short of fascinating things to talk about.”Read on to find out more about 21 of the world’s most beautiful castles, fortified homes that are both a feast for the eyes and a time trip back to the bygone age during which they were created. Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket/LightRocket via Getty ImagesThis classic medieval castle towers above the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea. The castle’s vivid red-and-yellow color pattern – and its flashy clock tower – endow Pena with a much more playful air than the somber castles found elsewhere in Europe.

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