Carrickfergus Castle in Great Britain, Northern Ireland Resort
Rating: 8,3/10 ( votes)  Carrickfergus Castle is one of the few examples of medieval fortifications in Northern Ireland, which has survived to this day in almost its original form. The castle is the main and only attraction of the city of the same name, located nearby. Today Carrickfergus Castle is one of the largest centers for the study of the Middle Ages in the country.
The castle arose in the XII century, its appearance became a certain stage in the development of the British Isles. The castle was built by the Anglo-Norman tribes, hence the very unusual name for the fort and the city that arose years later. According to the hypotheses of historians, the founders of the castle were faced with the task of making it as impregnable as possible, which was embodied during the years of construction. A castle was built on a steep cliff, which at that time completely excluded seizure from the sea, and Belfast Loch Bay became the most defensive bay in the country.
All the towers of the castle were built of the strongest basalt and sandstone mined nearby, the relatively high walls of 20 meters for that time reached a thickness of up to four meters, which made the castle invulnerable even to cannon fire.
A kind of pride of the castle was the unique defense against ground attacks, nicknamed by the enemies"the hole of death". The hole is a gateway above the main gate of the castle, disguised as the color of the wall. At the moment of breaking through the gate or deliberately deceiving the enemy, unsuspecting infantrymen received a stream of boiling resin, oil, or a pile of sharp stones on their heads. The retreat was cut off by a slamming secret lattice. The principle of operation of the"hole of death" is shown to all sightseers, which causes regular applause.
In addition to an excursion visit to the castle, you can order a walk along the bay, allowing you to see the walls of the fortress from different angles. Also, inside the castle, costume performances are often held on the theme of life in the Middle Ages. Anyone can take part in them, as well as be a spectator.
The city of Carrickfergus is currently completely focused on the tourism business, the flow of tourists from all over the world cannot be called colossal, but due to inexpensive prices for local infrastructure, there is a certain demand. There are many Russians among the visitors to the city and the castle, which forced local entrepreneurs to create printed materials in Russian in souvenir shops - guidebooks, booklets, memorable books about the city and the history of the castle.
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