Synonym or alternative word for a 'castle'

I guess my story is kind of fantasy-esque, but there's no magic (only spirituality) and no fairies or vampires or whatever. I'm looking for a word that I can use in place of 'castle' or 'palace', as the name of the home of the leaders of the tribe whom aspects of my story are about. A little background info: they live on "Earth" - technically the name of the world won't be mentioned, but its basically geographically like Earth. The climate is warm, the people are often exposed to the sun and there is a lot of flora and fauna around because of the warm climate. Back to the tribe... they live in this world, and are one of the very civilised tribes. They don't live in mud huts or anything, they live in towns and villages, and are ruled by the leader and his family. Question is, what can I call the building, the main building of the tribe where they reside, much like a palace or fort? Except, it's not as regal as a palace, as they are very natural people. I'm really stuck on what to name this, particularly as a lot of the story will be set in and around this area.

Thanks in advance for any help

 

fortress ? walled city ? palace ?

 

A small scale castle. Hmmm.

Keep, or stronghold? Or your ruling family can live in a tower. Nothing says authority like a spire rising from the centre of town.

 

The 'castle' chess piece is also called the 'rook'.

I'm thinking Rooksville.

 

Forts are more defensive, palaces, towers, etc more decorative. I'd just go with one of those, really. No need to make it complicated.

 

Thanks guys, you've all been helpful

 

first few I could think of was fort/ress, stronghold, keep.

 

citadel, bastion, or manor also would work well I think.

 

I was thinking "bastion" myself but wasnt sure, so I looked it up and its actually a part of the wall that "sticks out" not the castle itself

 

I looked it up too because I thought the same, lol. It depends on context.

From the Free Online Dictionary (although several other's had the same info, this is where I took it from)

Noun 1. bastion - a group that defends a principle; "a bastion against corruption"; "the last bastion of communism"
defence force, defense force, defence, defense - an organization of defenders that provides resistance against attack; "he joined the defense against invasion"
2. bastion - a stronghold into which people could go for shelter during a battle
citadel
acropolis - the citadel in ancient Greek towns
kremlin - citadel of a Russian town
stronghold, fastness - a strongly fortified defensive structure
3. bastion - projecting part of a rampart or other fortification
fortification, munition - defensive structure consisting of walls or mounds built around a stronghold to strengthen it

 

I think Citadel and bastion are too heavily fortified for this one. Actually 'manor' sounds like an excellent suggestion. That's the word I was trying to think of.

 

I expect you want a moated manor.

 

You could call it a lodge, or hall, or you could create a word which refers specifically to this place; The Ma'har, Tambierien Hall, Helm's Rest, etc.

 

Kasbah?

Or you could take a lead from Beijing's Forbidden City -- the Closed Quarter, perhaps, or a euphemism such as "Inside the Wall".