Photos from Bishop Castle -- 90 miles south of Colorado Springs, CO
In Colorado Springs, I stayed with my friend Alysse from high school, who I hadn't seen in six years. We were never super close, but she was two grades above me and I'd always admired her writing (you can read some of it here). She and her husband Austin were kind enough to invite me into their home in Colorado Springs and take me to probably the strangest place that I've encountered on my travels thus far:
I don't think any of my photos truly capture how bizarre this place is. Essentially, there was a man named Jim Bishop who decided that he wanted to build a castle, despite having no formal architectural or construction experience. Then he did -- and he's still working, constantly making new additions. You can see him working and talk to him. When you're exploring the castle, every so often you may hear an outburst from him about how we shouldn't trust the government, and how we are all "sheeple".
The castle itself is completely beautiful -- mostly stone on the outside, but also winding metal staircases and bridges and a dragon's head protruding off the side. On the inside -- stained glass windows, wood floors, lots of winding staircases. Austin & I climbed up as far as we could go and, just for fun, decided to see how much we could shake one of the metal bridges which felt a bit rickety. We very quickly realized that this was a terrible plan.
As you can imagine, it's maybe not the most structurally sound structure in the entire world. As a result, the government has tried to shut it down on multiple occasions. From what I can gather, the compromise that Mr. Bishop has worked out with the government is that he's not allowed to advertise anywhere, but he can allow people to visit on a donation-basis.
I imagine that it would be a beautiful place for a wedding -- though Alysse told me that she heard of one that happened there that ended quite suddenly. Apparently Mr. Bishop has a real hatred for alcohol, and the drunkenness at the wedding made him angry -- so he came out with a shotgun.
Still, though. Beautiful. If not a wedding, perhaps a photo shoot with couture gowns (and a really good insurance policy). Can't you see it?
A view from the top.
I don't think any of my photos truly capture how bizarre this place is. Essentially, there was a man named Jim Bishop who decided that he wanted to build a castle, despite having no formal architectural or construction experience. Then he did -- and he's still working, constantly making new additions. You can see him working and talk to him. When you're exploring the castle, every so often you may hear an outburst from him about how we shouldn't trust the government, and how we are all "sheeple".
The castle itself is completely beautiful -- mostly stone on the outside, but also winding metal staircases and bridges and a dragon's head protruding off the side. On the inside -- stained glass windows, wood floors, lots of winding staircases. Austin & I climbed up as far as we could go and, just for fun, decided to see how much we could shake one of the metal bridges which felt a bit rickety. We very quickly realized that this was a terrible plan.
As you can imagine, it's maybe not the most structurally sound structure in the entire world. As a result, the government has tried to shut it down on multiple occasions. From what I can gather, the compromise that Mr. Bishop has worked out with the government is that he's not allowed to advertise anywhere, but he can allow people to visit on a donation-basis.
I imagine that it would be a beautiful place for a wedding -- though Alysse told me that she heard of one that happened there that ended quite suddenly. Apparently Mr. Bishop has a real hatred for alcohol, and the drunkenness at the wedding made him angry -- so he came out with a shotgun.
Still, though. Beautiful. If not a wedding, perhaps a photo shoot with couture gowns (and a really good insurance policy). Can't you see it?
A view from the top.