Thread: Hidden Castle

So I am writing a new novel, part of a 90-day Novel thing. Multiple scenes involve a castle that is supposed to be set apart from other people. The castle isn't a real castle but I am wondering if this place should be an island, or would there be a good real country to place it in? I don't know what countries are better for their castles and huge spacing.

If you want it to be away from other people, you probably want to pick something ... I don't know, cold and mountainous? Or in the middle of a desert? If you want to go crazy with it, you could put it on Svalsbard, in a glacier in the middle of Greenland, in the middle of the Sahara, or somewhere along those lines. Or floating in the ocean. The arctic ocean? I can't help but think about cold places right now, possibly because the level on the thermometer here seems to have taken a nosedive. Are there any limits on the technology/travel capacity that limit this castle?

Or could it be underground? Or in a different dimension? Really depends on your setting.

How do the other people relate to this castle? To them, is the castle a mystery, a legend, majical, evil, other worldly/spiritual, or something else? Does the castle belong to the faireys and sprites, those majical creatures that we never see but who always there watching us, and causing mischief? Or is the castle really just in a part of the world where few people live? In the latter case, consider putting the castle in eastern Europe. In the middle ages, eastern Europe slightly resembled the future American west in that eastern Europe was scantily populated and was considered the frontier of Christian civilization. If you want the castle to be a remant of some past glory, consider Spain, which was less populated than other parts of western Europe. Transylvania, which is in Rumania, literally translated means 'Land on the other side of the forest,' a place of mystery, which is why it is so easy to set monster stories there. You might not be able to use Transylvania as it would lead your readers into thinking your story is a horror story, but use some other name that invokes mystery. Transmonia maybe - Land on the other side of the mountains or Transpalusia - Land on the other side of the swamp. C.M.

Jan Mayen.

As said, a lot depends on your setting and such... but in a general sense, perhaps Ireland? Some nice castles, spacious country, not overly remote. Perhaps even the orient, China and Japan have some notable remote locations. The middle east, if you're looking to warmer climates. Just some thoughts.

It all depends what you mean when you say "away from people". Most castles don't have houses built right next to them (usually because castles were built on hills, or on other difficult to access terain - dilibertly, so as to deter invaders), but despite their isolated locales they also usually have tourists visiting them, at least in the day.

Although - given that the title of this thread is "Hidden" Castle, you could always have a castle that's around tons of people - but one that's hidden in plain sight. It could be a ruin that was built over long ago, and now it's been forgotten. Or something.

Well, there really are few ways to hide something. Either it has to be on a mountain top, on an island, in the woods, or under ground. If you think of the Inca cities, they were pretty isolated up in the Andes, but there's also something fascinating about places like the Petra Temple, or even more so, Ajanta and Ellora. Perfectly hidden in the mountains, carved straight into the living rock.