Castle World Map

About Castle World Map 🏰

Castle World Map charts the castles, fortresses and fortified palaces of the world — from intact strongholds still drawing crowds to the overgrown motte you'd otherwise walk straight past — in one interactive layer.

Each castle is sourced from OpenStreetMap's `historic=castle` tag and kept current by mappers and history enthusiasts. It's a way to discover what's near you and plan a visit; opening hours and access belong to each site.

Who is behind this site?

Castle World Map is built and maintained by Emil Björk, an independent developer based in Sweden. The site grew out of a passion for maps, travel and open data, alongside a professional background in IT consulting.

How it works

Every point is fetched from the OpenStreetMap Overpass API, deduplicated, tagged by country and stored as a static GeoJSON file — no database, instant to load. Click any point to see a description from Wikipedia, a photo from Wikimedia Commons (or Mapillary as a fallback) and, where available, its Google rating.

Data freshness

The dataset is automatically refreshed once a month from OpenStreetMap via a scheduled GitHub Action, so the map stays current as the world is mapped.

Spot something missing?

This map is only as complete as OpenStreetMap itself. If you know a castles that isn't here, you can add it directly to OpenStreetMap — it's free, open and will appear here at the next refresh.

Add a missing place on OpenStreetMap →

New to OpenStreetMap? See the how-to-tag guide for castles. Edits show up here at the next monthly refresh.

Report an error or a wrong location

Found a castles in the wrong spot, with outdated details, or listed twice? The data lives in OpenStreetMap, so the quickest fix is a short note there — a local mapper reviews it and the correction flows back to this map at the next refresh.

Leave a note on OpenStreetMap →

Get in touch

Questions, feedback, or a partnership idea? We'd love to hear from you — reach us at hello@castleworldmap.com.

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to the most common questions are on our FAQ page →

Credits