Kryal Castle

Concrete medieval-fantasy castle east of town — endearingly daft, popular with kids

Address 121 Forbes Road, Leigh Creek

Kryal Castle is a one-third-scale concrete medieval castle in the bush east of Ballarat, built privately in the 1970s and 80s and now run as a daytime attraction. The fortifications are roughly accurate; the interior includes a great hall, a torture museum, a dungeon, jousting demonstrations on weekends, and a dragon labyrinth. There is nothing else like it in Australia.

It is not a serious place — the labels are tongue-in-cheek, the dragon is fibreglass — but children love it. Adults can find it either charming or grim depending on mood. Open Friday to Monday plus school holidays; check the show schedule before going.

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A story
Construction began in 1972 by a Mauritian-born landscape gardener named Karl Kreschmar who wanted to build himself a castle. He laid most of the stone himself over the following two decades.

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