Hilltop Shimabara Castle was ruled mostly by the Matsudaira Clan from the 1660s, played a part in the Shimabara Rebellion and was rebuilt in 1964. Amid lotus ponds, tangled gardens, almost 4km of mossy walls, picturesque pines and staff dressed in period costumes, the grounds house four museums . The main castle displays arms, armour and items of the Christian uprising with English explanations. Seibō Kinenkan is dedicated to the work of native son Kitamura Seibō, sculptor of the Nagasaki Peace Statue.
