For a no-hassle castle visit, check these five fortresses by the Bay
f you can’t decide between getting your
Old World castle fix in Scotland, France, Germany or Spain, why not try something much closer to home?
Yes, the Bay Area has castles, magnificent chateaus and other unique structures built to evoke the romance and mystery of a medieval royal abode. And one was erected to serve the classic function of a castle, providing shelter and defense against enemy attack.
Here are five of the Bay Area’s most iconic castles to explore on the printed page or in real life.
Fort Point
SAN FRANCISCO
On a foggy night, we thought we saw a ghost lurking among the cannon mounts on the roof of Fort Point.
While playing Union soldiers on a memorable fifthgrade overnight field trip, a classmate and I had pulled midnight to 2 a.m. guard duties at the fort, built in 1861 at the southern end of the Golden Gate to protect against Confederate invasion. A dark figure stood on the west bastion, looking out over the strait to the sounds of a fog horn, waves lapping against the rocks and the thunk-thunk of cars crossing the bridge above.
The figure turned out to be a parent chaperone, but our brief terror is a reminder of the lore and mysteries attached to this national historic site. The fort is so atmospheric, Alfred Hitchcock used it for a scene in “Vertigo,” when his haunted heroine jumps into the bay to escape her demons. Banquo’s ghost roamed its halls in 2013, when a theater company used it as a stand-in for Macbeth’s castle.
Built with seven-foot-thick brick walls to withstand a lengthy siege, the four-tier, brick-and-mortar fort fits the Old World definition of castle. The original design even called for a moat, and Fort Point replaced the Castillo de San Joaquin, an adobe gun battery built on the bluff by the Spanish in 1794.