Valkenburg Castle Ruins

Valkenburg, Netherlands, Netherlands

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Valkenburg Castle Ruins in Valkenburg aan de Geul, Netherlands, were first fortified around 1115 by Gosewijn I, Lord of Valkenburg, as a wooden keep on a hilltop overlooking the Geul Valley, quickly destroyed in 1122 by Holy Roman Emperor Henry V and rebuilt multiple times amid sieges, including by Jan III, Duke of Brabant.

The surviving 14th-century stone structure, with its defensive walls and towers, endured wars but was deliberately blown up on December 6, 1672, by Dutch forces under Stadtholder Willem III during the Franco-Dutch War to prevent French capture, leaving dramatic remnants later quarried after a 1773 town fire.

Now a popular tourist site with underground caves accessed via the ruins, it evokes medieval power struggles and offers panoramic views as Limburg's only hill castle.