暑假去哪玩？山山水水都看过了，不妨去城堡里看一看，感受不一样的景色。

新天鹅城堡（德国）

The fantasy castle about which other fantasy castles have fantasies. This elaborate slice of Romanesque Revival perches on a hilltop above the village of Hohenschwangau in southern Germany. It was crafted in the late 19th century (between 1869 and 1886, to be precise), to the ostentatious tastes of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria. Sadly for the man in question, he died in the same year that his dream residence was finished. His consolation (in the afterlife anyway) is that Schloss Neuschwanstein (whose name translates as New Swanstone Castle) has become the blueprint for such wildly flamboyant structures. It was the inspiration for the “Sleeping Beauty Castle” which lights up Disneyland in California.

新天鹅城堡是梦幻城堡中的梦幻城堡。这座古罗马式复兴风格建筑坐落在德国南部霍恩施万高村的一个山顶上，是为了迎合巴伐利亚“疯王”路德维希二世的奢华品味于19世纪晚期（准确时间是1869到1886年）兴建的。可惜的是，城堡建好的同一年路德维希二世就去世了。能让他（在来世）感到安慰的是，新天鹅城堡后来成为了奢华梦幻城堡的模板。美国加州迪士尼乐园睡美人城堡的灵感就来源于新天鹅城堡。

Chateau de Chinon (France)
希侬城堡（法国）

The Loire Valley is, of course, a glittering cornucopia of fine castles and tall-towered flights of fancy - a legacy of the 15th and 16th centuries, when French royal power was concentrated here, and the Gallic nobility dutifully constructed their mansions close to the throne. Admittedly, Chinon pre-dates this period - there has been a chateau on its crag since the 10th century. And the river it looks down on is the Vienne, a tributary of the Loire, rather than the Loire itself. But it holds a crucial place in French history. It was here in 1429 that Joan Of Arc met Charles VII - an encounter which gave the monarch new impetus in his ultimately successful bid to liberate his kingdom from English rule.

卢瓦尔河谷是闪闪发光的宝藏之地，那里到处是美丽的城堡和高耸入云的塔楼——这些都是15世纪和16世纪聚居在那里的法国王室家族留下来的遗产。当时法国贵族都将自己的府邸建在国王宫殿附近。无可否认，希侬城堡建造的日期更早，早在10世纪就有了这座悬崖上的城堡。城堡俯瞰着维埃纳河，而非卢瓦尔河，维埃纳河是卢瓦尔河的支流。不过，希侬城堡在法国历史上占据着举足轻重的地位。这座城堡见证了1429年圣女贞德和查理七世的会面，这次会面让查理七世萌发了新动力，让他最终得以成功让法国脱离英国的统治。

Chateau de Saumur (France)
索米尔城堡（法国）

An image of symmetrical fairytale perfection, its towers leaping into the sky, its grand entrance accessed via drawbridge, the castle at Saumur ticks all the boxes required to be a spectacular Loire chateau - not least because it gazes out across the river in question (and its confluence with the Thouet). Tenth century in origin, though freshened and finessed in subsequent centuries, it has played host to a few beasts during its millennium of existence - it was converted into a state prison once Napoleon Bonaparte had seized the French reins. Happily, it is now restored to full splendour, staring imperiously at its surroundings.
童话般完美的对称外观，直冲云霄的高塔，雄伟的吊桥入口，索米尔的这座城堡具备了成为一座壮丽卢瓦尔河谷城堡的全部条件——不只是因为它就在卢瓦尔河边（而且位于卢瓦尔河和图埃河之间的交汇处）。这座始建于10世纪的古堡尽管在后来的岁月中历经翻新和打理，在长达千年的历史中也曾招待过几个禽兽之人——在拿破仑.波拿巴执掌法国大权后曾将索米尔城堡改造为国家监狱。幸运的是，现在这座古堡已经回复到全盛状态，傲视着周围的一切。
  
Kronborg Castle (Denmark)
克伦堡宫（丹麦）

Pitched on the very eastern edge of Denmark in the town of Helsingor - so close to the edge, in fact, that Sweden is barely a stone’s-throw distant across the Oresund strait - Kronborg is very much a castle for princes and princesses. Particularly princes. A squat brick bastion, founded in the 1420s but converted into a Renaissance masterpiece by the Danish king Frederick II between 1574 and 1585, it was - and is - the setting for William Shakespeare’s tour de force Hamlet. Every summer, actors stride around its cavernous interior playing the troubled lead and his doomed love interest Ophelia as part of the Hamletscenen festival. Never does the Bard have a greater auditorium.
克伦堡宫坐落在丹麦赫耳辛格市的最东边，事实上，克伦堡宫离瑞典也就一箭之遥，中间隔着厄勒海峡。这是一座属于王子和公主的城堡，尤其是王子。这座敦实的城堡用砖石砌成，于15世纪20年代兴建，后来在1574年至1585年间被丹麦国王腓特烈二世改造成文艺复兴风格的杰出宫殿。克伦堡宫在过去和现在都是莎士比亚代表作《哈姆雷特》的巡演之地。每年夏天，都会有演员在城堡内扮演苦恼的男主人公哈姆雷特和他的苦命恋人奥菲利亚，作为哈姆雷特文化节的一部分。莎士比亚再也找不到比这更好的戏剧大厅了。