#KSAR
630 landmarks, looked at one by one; four countries reached; Romania read again
* **630 landmarks join the atlas, 8,135 → 8,764, each one looked at before it entered.** Every Wikidata item in the castle, fort, château, palace, citadel, fortification, ksar, kasbah and dzong trees that had a photograph, coordinates, an article and five or more Wikipedia editions, and was not yet on the map, was a candidate: 2,954 of them. A first gate removed plans, prints, paintings, photographs from before 1950, bunkers, city gates, settlements and landforms. The 1,828 left were read one at a time on contact sheets, beside their Wikidata description, classes, heritage status, founding year and sixty-day readership, and what turned out to be a town palace, a hotel, a winery, a house museum, a motte, a hillfort, a fragment of wall or a part of a complex already on the map stayed out. Twenty-five photographs were replaced from the landmarks’ own Commons categories where the current one was small, old or of something else. France gains 149, Germany 113, Italy and India 41 each, Scotland 39, Belgium 28, Austria 22, Czechia 19, Croatia 18. Four countries appear for the first time: Honduras (the Fortaleza de San Fernando de Omoa), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Fort Charlotte), Senegal (Fort d’Estrées on Gorée) and Togo (Château Vial). * **Romania, after Jurnalul’s review.** Diana Scarlat’s piece of 17 September said important sites were missing and that Transylvanian manors pass as castles. Both were right. Neamț Citadel is on the map now; the atlas had never found it because its English label on Wikidata has read “Bihor” since an anonymous edit in 2020. The Roman fort of Argamum joins it. The “Țepeș Castle” in Bucharest’s Carol Park, a water tower of 1906 built to look like the keep at Poenari, leaves. Feldioara’s photograph from around 1900 gives way to the restored fortress. And 22 country houses that carry the Hungarian label _kastély_ are filed as palaces; six fortified ones, Bran, Huniade, Bonțida Bánffy, Lázár, Bethlen at Criș and Sükösd-Bethlen at Racoș, stay castles. * **Three that readers asked for.** Mearns Castle in East Renfrewshire, named as missing on Mastodon in July; the castle of La Roche-en-Ardenne, asked for by email on 13 September; and the Sheremetev Castle at Yurino on the Volga, whose team wrote on 12 September. Twenty ruins whose articles say so in words the atlas’s rules did not read, and thirty-odd residences that English Wikipedia titles “Castle” because that is how it translates a château, a Schloss or a zámek, were filed by hand as well.
thecastlemap.com
September 29, 2026 at 7:43 AM
Keeping 200 cats happy takes a lot of toys and a lot of cuddles.

Every person working at KSAR puts their heart into the animals in their care, and that begins with basic salaries for highly skilled animal welfare labor.

🔗 secure.givelively.org/donate/kabul...

#animalrescue #catsofbluesky #charity
September 28, 2026 at 11:09 PM
630 landmarks, looked at one by one; four countries reached; Romania read again
* **630 landmarks join the atlas, 8,135 → 8,764, each one looked at before it entered.** Every Wikidata item in the castle, fort, château, palace, citadel, fortification, ksar, kasbah and dzong trees that had a photograph, coordinates, an article and five or more Wikipedia editions, and was not yet on the map, was a candidate: 2,954 of them. A first gate removed plans, prints, paintings, photographs from before 1950, bunkers, city gates, settlements and landforms. The 1,828 left were read one at a time on contact sheets, beside their Wikidata description, classes, heritage status, founding year and sixty-day readership, and what turned out to be a town palace, a hotel, a winery, a house museum, a motte, a hillfort, a fragment of wall or a part of a complex already on the map stayed out. Twenty-five photographs were replaced from the landmarks’ own Commons categories where the current one was small, old or of something else. France gains 149, Germany 113, Italy and India 41 each, Scotland 39, Belgium 28, Austria 22, Czechia 19, Croatia 18. Four countries appear for the first time: Honduras (the Fortaleza de San Fernando de Omoa), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Fort Charlotte), Senegal (Fort d’Estrées on Gorée) and Togo (Château Vial). * **Romania, after Jurnalul’s review.** Diana Scarlat’s piece of 17 September said important sites were missing and that Transylvanian manors pass as castles. Both were right. Neamț Citadel is on the map now; the atlas had never found it because its English label on Wikidata has read “Bihor” since an anonymous edit in 2020. The Roman fort of Argamum joins it. The “Țepeș Castle” in Bucharest’s Carol Park, a water tower of 1906 built to look like the keep at Poenari, leaves. Feldioara’s photograph from around 1900 gives way to the restored fortress. And 22 country houses that carry the Hungarian label _kastély_ are filed as palaces; six fortified ones, Bran, Huniade, Bonțida Bánffy, Lázár, Bethlen at Criș and Sükösd-Bethlen at Racoș, stay castles. * **Three that readers asked for.** Mearns Castle in East Renfrewshire, named as missing on Mastodon in July; the castle of La Roche-en-Ardenne, asked for by email on 13 September; and the Sheremetev Castle at Yurino on the Volga, whose team wrote on 12 September. Twenty ruins whose articles say so in words the atlas’s rules did not read, and thirty-odd residences that English Wikipedia titles “Castle” because that is how it translates a château, a Schloss or a zámek, were filed by hand as well.
thecastlemap.com
September 28, 2026 at 5:43 AM
#TIL A three‑storey, castle‑like fortress rises straight from the middle of the Sahara Desert. Built into the dunes, its origins and builders remain unknown.

#nes #fortress #castle #ema #sahara
The Puzzling Ksar Draa Is A Lost Castle-Like Mystery Of The Sand Dunes Of The Great Sahara
The Ksar Draa is a fortified village lost deep in the Sahara surrounded by sand dunes and steeped in mystery.
www.thetravel.com
September 27, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Once confirmed, simply go to the auction site to pay the fee. The deadline for sponsorship requests is Tuesday October 20th.

🔗 www.galabid.com/ksar-fallintowinter

If you have questions, please contact Andrea Galko at agalko59@msn.com or Penny Abbott at misspsabbott@gmail.com

#dogsofbluesky
September 27, 2026 at 2:40 PM
🐾 KSAR Annual Auction and Calendars 🐾

Loki and Rexey Sue have been helping Andrea, our auction administrator, set up this year's auction.

The auction will run from November 6th through November 15th. We have many wonderful items and adventures available for bidding and purchase!
September 27, 2026 at 2:40 PM
Folks, please cast a free vote, so KSAR can earn some grant money.
🔔 The My Giving Circle voting 🗳️ cycle closes Wednesday September 30th 🔔

Time is running out to create a lasting impact!

Wednesday September 30th at 8:00pm EDT marks the closure for this grant cycle.

Please keep voting 🗳 for KSAR! It's 🆓 to do!

mygivingcircle.org/kabul-small-...

#animalrescue
September 26, 2026 at 9:23 PM
🔔 The My Giving Circle voting 🗳️ cycle closes Wednesday September 30th 🔔

Time is running out to create a lasting impact!

Wednesday September 30th at 8:00pm EDT marks the closure for this grant cycle.

Please keep voting 🗳 for KSAR! It's 🆓 to do!

mygivingcircle.org/kabul-small-...

#animalrescue
September 26, 2026 at 9:16 PM
I am not sure what "integrated" means? That they live in the same Ksar and have a designated "mǝllaḥ"? Are they included in the governance body 'tažmaɛt'?
Many iɣrm in the Ghris region have jewish communities living alongside non-jews, but are not represented in gov, same as 'iqbliyn' in some Ksars
September 26, 2026 at 7:52 PM
If you have a few (units of currency) to spare, that would also be great!
Donate Now | Staff Salaries September 2026 by Kabul Small Animal Rescue
KSAR facilities house hundreds of animals and provide veterinary care for hundreds more each month. We have 125 full time staff, which includes veterinarians, vet tech...
secure.givelively.org
September 26, 2026 at 7:38 PM
the KSAR team does amazing work on a shoestring, but they're really feeling the crunch these days - even just a vote here would help:
Vote for Kabul Small Animal Rescue to share in $2,500,000
Each year MyGivingCircle gives $2,500,000 in grants and donations
mygivingcircle.org
September 26, 2026 at 7:36 PM
It's #Caturday-Saturday and some of the KSAR cats 🐱 have called a meeting. The agenda?

BREAKFAST! 🥣

#animalrescue #allpawsmatter #catsofbluesky #charity #Caturday
September 26, 2026 at 7:55 AM
I know things are tight right now for everyone but please take the time to research this wonderful organization doing amazing work and consider making a donation. @ksarshelter.bsky.social
ksarshelter (@ksarshelter.bsky.social)
#KSAR is a licensed veterinary clinic and animal shelter, helping animals in need in Kabul, Afghanistan, putting compassion into action. 501c3 EIN: 86-1456626 Non-Governmental & Nonprofit Organization...
ksarshelter.bsky.social
September 25, 2026 at 9:19 PM
So you’re not familiar with the plight of the dogs in Afghanistan. The US. Govt abandoned all of their working dogs and KSAR saved as many as they could, as well as many dogs abused on the streets of Kabul. I don’t get your point?
September 25, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Also, I guess you’re not familiar with the KSAR animals in Afghanistan. The dog wasn’t the only 1 on the plane, is she not allowed to ride along? Your comment really irritates me. They deserve a home and every ounce of compassion they get. Worry about something else.
September 25, 2026 at 6:46 PM
We've had alot of new followers recently - hello 👋 and thank you for following Eleanor home and sticking around too ❤️

I thought an update on who we are and what we do was useful.

KSAR is the municipality shelter for Afghanistan. We receive no government funding and rely entirely on supporters.
September 25, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Please keep voting for KSAR on My Giving Circle! The grant cycle ends on 30th September and we're currently #2️⃣.

We’ve got quite the crew depending on you!

🗳️ is 🆓 and any donations add votes and go to our fundraisers.

🔗 mygivingcircle.org/kabul-small-...

#fundraiser #animalrescue #catsofbluesky
September 24, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Ecuador, Dora, Pastora, Tom, Allen, Kenneth, and friends are all together and ready to start the day.

Nothing beats a morning surrounded by happy faces, wagging tails, and good friends.

Wishing everyone a beautiful morning from this wonderful crew at KSAR!

#animalrescue #dogsofbluesky #charity
September 23, 2026 at 5:22 AM
630 landmarks, looked at one by one; four countries reached; Romania read again
* **630 landmarks join the atlas, 8,135 → 8,764, each one looked at before it entered.** Every Wikidata item in the castle, fort, château, palace, citadel, fortification, ksar, kasbah and dzong trees that had a photograph, coordinates, an article and five or more Wikipedia editions, and was not yet on the map, was a candidate: 2,954 of them. A first gate removed plans, prints, paintings, photographs from before 1950, bunkers, city gates, settlements and landforms. The 1,828 left were read one at a time on contact sheets, beside their Wikidata description, classes, heritage status, founding year and sixty-day readership, and what turned out to be a town palace, a hotel, a winery, a house museum, a motte, a hillfort, a fragment of wall or a part of a complex already on the map stayed out. Twenty-five photographs were replaced from the landmarks’ own Commons categories where the current one was small, old or of something else. France gains 149, Germany 113, Italy and India 41 each, Scotland 39, Belgium 28, Austria 22, Czechia 19, Croatia 18. Four countries appear for the first time: Honduras (the Fortaleza de San Fernando de Omoa), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Fort Charlotte), Senegal (Fort d’Estrées on Gorée) and Togo (Château Vial). * **Romania, after Jurnalul’s review.** Diana Scarlat’s piece of 17 September said important sites were missing and that Transylvanian manors pass as castles. Both were right. Neamț Citadel is on the map now; the atlas had never found it because its English label on Wikidata has read “Bihor” since an anonymous edit in 2020. The Roman fort of Argamum joins it. The “Țepeș Castle” in Bucharest’s Carol Park, a water tower of 1906 built to look like the keep at Poenari, leaves. Feldioara’s photograph from around 1900 gives way to the restored fortress. And 22 country houses that carry the Hungarian label _kastély_ are filed as palaces; six fortified ones, Bran, Huniade, Bonțida Bánffy, Lázár, Bethlen at Criș and Sükösd-Bethlen at Racoș, stay castles. * **Three that readers asked for.** Mearns Castle in East Renfrewshire, named as missing on Mastodon in July; the castle of La Roche-en-Ardenne, asked for by email on 13 September; and the Sheremetev Castle at Yurino on the Volga, whose team wrote on 12 September. Twenty ruins whose articles say so in words the atlas’s rules did not read, and thirty-odd residences that English Wikipedia titles “Castle” because that is how it translates a château, a Schloss or a zámek, were filed by hand as well.
thecastlemap.com
September 22, 2026 at 11:42 PM
Ksar Ouled Soltane

Damn the whole town is just this plus trees and a canal.
September 22, 2026 at 4:06 PM
630 landmarks, looked at one by one; four countries reached; Romania read again
* **630 landmarks join the atlas, 8,135 → 8,764, each one looked at before it entered.** Every Wikidata item in the castle, fort, château, palace, citadel, fortification, ksar, kasbah and dzong trees that had a photograph, coordinates, an article and five or more Wikipedia editions, and was not yet on the map, was a candidate: 2,954 of them. A first gate removed plans, prints, paintings, photographs from before 1950, bunkers, city gates, settlements and landforms. The 1,828 left were read one at a time on contact sheets, beside their Wikidata description, classes, heritage status, founding year and sixty-day readership, and what turned out to be a town palace, a hotel, a winery, a house museum, a motte, a hillfort, a fragment of wall or a part of a complex already on the map stayed out. Twenty-five photographs were replaced from the landmarks’ own Commons categories where the current one was small, old or of something else. France gains 149, Germany 113, Italy and India 41 each, Scotland 39, Belgium 28, Austria 22, Czechia 19, Croatia 18. Four countries appear for the first time: Honduras (the Fortaleza de San Fernando de Omoa), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Fort Charlotte), Senegal (Fort d’Estrées on Gorée) and Togo (Château Vial). * **Romania, after Jurnalul’s review.** Diana Scarlat’s piece of 17 September said important sites were missing and that Transylvanian manors pass as castles. Both were right. Neamț Citadel is on the map now; the atlas had never found it because its English label on Wikidata has read “Bihor” since an anonymous edit in 2020. The Roman fort of Argamum joins it. The “Țepeș Castle” in Bucharest’s Carol Park, a water tower of 1906 built to look like the keep at Poenari, leaves. Feldioara’s photograph from around 1900 gives way to the restored fortress. And 22 country houses that carry the Hungarian label _kastély_ are filed as palaces; six fortified ones, Bran, Huniade, Bonțida Bánffy, Lázár, Bethlen at Criș and Sükösd-Bethlen at Racoș, stay castles. * **Three that readers asked for.** Mearns Castle in East Renfrewshire, named as missing on Mastodon in July; the castle of La Roche-en-Ardenne, asked for by email on 13 September; and the Sheremetev Castle at Yurino on the Volga, whose team wrote on 12 September. Twenty ruins whose articles say so in words the atlas’s rules did not read, and thirty-odd residences that English Wikipedia titles “Castle” because that is how it translates a château, a Schloss or a zámek, were filed by hand as well.
thecastlemap.com
September 20, 2026 at 9:42 PM
#everyone Please join #KSAR on their Patreon page from just $5 per month.
September 20, 2026 at 1:08 PM
#everyone Please join #KSAR on Patreon from just $5 per month. Beautiful content and joining really helps #KSAR fiscally.
September 20, 2026 at 1:06 PM
KSAR could share in $5,000 this weekend.

MyGivingCircle is adding a bonus for every vote or donation from Friday 18 September until funds run out.

👉Here's how:

✅ Every vote is worth $1

✅ Every donation is worth $2

✅ The bonus pays out as support comes in

🔗 mygivingcircle.org/kabul-small-...
Vote for — it's free and helps them share $500,000 in grants
Takes 10 seconds. Share this and make it count.
mygivingcircle.org
September 18, 2026 at 1:14 PM