Sound the Warning

Every castle we visit has a watchtower built as part of the fortress walls. The watchtowers are lookout stands placed to guard the castle.

Each is positioned to see afar off and warn of intruders or enemy approaching. A watchman would usually sit in the tower being vigilant.

If an intruder or enemy was approaching, he would sound the alarm. The watchtowers protected the kings and their kingdom from harm or attack. We couldn't help imagining what it was like inside the walls of these castle centuries ago.

This recent castle we hiked up to is called "šariš hrad".

We noticed there were several watchtowers positioned along the walls surrounding the castle. The walls were 20+ feet high and several feet thick. To this day, the walls are still standing strong and firm. The watchtowers rise above the walls another 10-20 feet and were located about 100 yards apart.

There is no shortage of medieval castles ruins to see in Slovakia and Czech Republic.  The views from on top of these castles are spectacular. Once we could see 12 villages off in the distance from a tower. Another castle was positioned on a high cliff overlooking a river.

Today, we can see the original castle rooms, stairways, tunnels, and archways still standing just like they were hundreds of years ago. Imagine the battles that must have been avoided by having a castle to keep protected.

The watchtowers were strategically place in such a position to have the best view of the valley below and afar off. 

Some of the castle walls have a footpath along the top so guards could walk along and strike at enemies trying to climb up.

It took an enormous skilled workforce and millions of carved stones to build such a fortress. All these castles are built on top of the highest hill or cliff with steep inclines deterring the enemy from attacking. Inside the walls can be a very large area.

We have seen structures and open terrain as large as 5 acres. What an amazing construction project.

Back then there were no tractors or cranes to lift the massive stones into place. Today, we see renovations taking place at some of the sites to repair structures that have fallen into decay. 

Thankfully, the Lord has provided us with modern day watchtowers.

He has called prophets and apostles who act as watchmen upon the tower to warn us of the dangers of our day.

Prophets are allowed to see things from a heavenly view, and to guide us on a safer path than we might take ourselves. We are living in the last days upon the earth which is full of wickedness and temptations of all types, surely we need the Lord's watchmen now more than ever before.