Five years ago, danrharvey wanted to “get stuck into a creative mode build” in Minecraft. Looking back on it today, he’s built something that’s not only original, but beautiful.

“It was fairly aimless at first”, he says, “I just started building a castle, with tunnels beneath, then about three or four months in, during an electrical storm my computer crashed and the save game corrupted. Disheartened, I stepped away from the game for a while, but it began to stew in my mind to start a new build, but it had to be big, and cool. Then one morning I awoke from a dream with an idea fully formed in my head. I’d build a castle with four different sides, because Minecraft is on a square grid. Each side would be similar, especially around the central tower, but as you moved out, the four sides would take on their own personality and function.”

The “Fortress” side.

Those four are a “Fortress” side (with defensive ramparts), a “Residence” side (with housing and gardens), a “Town” side (with stores and churches) and a “Factory” side (with farms and the buildings that power the rest of the build).

The level of detail borders on the obsessive throughout the castle, but then, that’s what makes it so amazing. The more little nooks, crannies and quirks, the more it comes across as a real place.

He even made his own custom resource pack for the build, whipping up his own mossy stone, glass and castle decorations.

You can see more pics of the build here.

A cross-section of the castle’s interior.

Guy Spends Five Years Building A Minecraft Castle