Castle town in the context of Jōkamachi


Castle town in the context of Jōkamachi

⭐ Core Definition: Castle town

A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, and England particularly, it is common for cities and towns that were not castle towns to instead have been organized around cathedrals.

Towns organized around Japanese castles are called jōkamachi (城下町). Castles are typically built near towns to gain and equip supplies.

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Castle town in the context of Visegrád

Visegrád (Hungarian: [ˈviʃɛɡraːd]; German: Plintenburg; Latin: Pone Navata or Altum Castrum; Slovak: Vyšehrad) is a castle town in Pest County, Hungary. It is north of Budapest on the right bank of the Danube in the Danube Bend. It had a population of 1,864 in 2010. The town is the site of the remains of the Early Renaissance summer palace of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and a medieval citadel. The town was also the site of a meeting on 15 February 1991 between the President of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, Václav Havel, the President of the Republic of Poland, Lech Wałęsa, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary, József Antall which founded the titular Visegrád group.

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Castle town in the context of Nagoya Castle

Nagoya Castle (名古屋城, Nagoya-jō) is a Japanese castle located in Nagoya, Japan.

Nagoya Castle was constructed by the Owari Domain in 1612 during the Edo period on the site of an earlier castle of the Oda clan in the Sengoku period. Nagoya Castle was the heart of one of the most important castle towns in Japan, Nagoya-juku, a post station on the Minoji road linking two of the important Edo Five Routes, the Tōkaidō and the Nakasendō. Nagoya Castle became the core of the modern Nagoya and ownership was transferred to the city by the Imperial Household Ministry in 1930. Nagoya Castle was partially destroyed in 1945 during the Pacific War and the reconstruction and repair of the castle has been ongoing since 1957.

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Castle town in the context of Shuri, Okinawa

Shuri (首里; Okinawan: スイ Sui or Shui, Northern Ryukyuan: しより Shiyori) is a district of the city of Naha, Okinawa, Japan. Formerly a separate city in and of itself, it was once the royal capital of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, hence the name. A number of famous historical sites are located in Shuri, including Shuri Castle, the Shureimon gate, Sunuhyan-utaki (a sacred space of the native Ryukyuan religion), and royal mausoleum Tamaudun, all of which are designated World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

Originally established as a castle town surrounding the royal palace, Shuri ceased to be the capital when the kingdom was annexed and incorporated into Japan as Okinawa prefecture. In 1896, Shuri was made a ward (, ku) of the new prefectural capital, Naha, though it was made a separate city again in 1921. In 1954, it was merged again into Naha.

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Castle town in the context of Groups of Traditional Buildings

Groups of Traditional Buildings (伝統的建造物群, Dentōteki Kenzōbutsu-gun) is a Japanese category of historic preservation introduced by a 1975 amendment of the law which mandates the protection of groups of traditional buildings which, together with their environment, form a beautiful scene. They can be post towns, castle towns, mining towns, merchant quarters, ports, farming or fishing villages, etc. The Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs recognizes and protects the country's cultural properties under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties.

Municipalities can designate items of particular importance as Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings (伝統的建造物群保存地区, Dentōteki Kenzōbutsu-gun Hozon-chiku) and approve measures to protect them. Items of even higher importance are then designated Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings (重要伝統的建造物群保存地区, Jūyō Dentōteki Kenzōbutsu-gun Hozon-chiku) by the central government. The Agency for Cultural Affairs then provides guidance, advice, and funds for repairs and other work. Additional support is given in the form of preferential tax treatment.

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Castle town in the context of Tower house

A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces. At the same time, they were also used as an aristocrat's residence, around which a castle town was often constructed.

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