Editing Harrenhal (section)

==Layout==
{{See also|:Category:Images of Harrenhal|l1=Images of Harrenhal}}
According to a semi-canon source, Harrenhal is immensely strong.<ref>[[So Spake Martin]]: [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/1160 A Number of Questions], May 12, 2001</ref> The castle has five towers of dizzying size, with equally monstrous curtain walls. The walls are incredibly thick and its rooms are built on a scale that would be more comfortable for [[giants]] than humans.{{Ref|ACOK|30}} Ser [[Jaime Lannister]] thinks of the castle as [[Harren Hoare|Black Harren's]] folly.{{ref|ASOS|27}}

Harrenhal covers three times as much ground as [[Winterfell]] and its buildings are so much larger that they can scarcely be compared.{{ref|ACOK|30}} King [[Jaehaerys I Targaryen]] chose the castle as the location of the [[Great Council of 101 AC]] because it was not known how many would attend, and the crown wanted space for at least five hundred lords and their entourages; more than a thousand came.{{Ref|FAB|Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession}}

Much of Harrenhal has far gone into decay, however, and many places in the castle have not been used in decades.{{ref|ACOK|30}}{{ref|ACOK|64}}

===Walls===
[[File:Harenhal by MarcSimonetti.jpg|thumb|350px|Harrenhal, by Marc Simonetti ©]]

Harrenhal has massive walls of black stone.{{ref|FAB|Aegon's Conquest}} Its gatehouse is as large as the [[Great Keep (Winterfell)|Great Keep of Winterfell]], and its stone is discolored and fissured.{{ref|ACOK|30}} From outside the gatehouse, only the tops of the towers can be seen because of the great height of the walls.{{ref|ACOK|30}}

The main gate has walls so thick that no less than a dozen murder holes are passed before one reaches the yard on the other side.{{ref|AFFC|27}} The east gate is smaller than the main gate{{ref|ASOS|44}} and is located near the [[Tower of Ghosts]].{{ref|ACOK|64}}

===Towers===
Like its walls, the five immense round{{ref|ASOS|31}} towers of Harrenhal are made of black stone.{{ref|AFFC|27}} Harrenhal's shortest tower is half again as high as the tallest one in Winterfell, yet none of the towers are proper, being bent, lumped, and cracked from the melting of the stone during the [[burning of Harrenhal]] by [[Balerion]], the [[dragon]] of King [[Aegon I Targaryen]], three centuries earlier. Their original names were lost with the death of [[Harren Hoare|Harren the Black]], and the towers are said to be haunted by [[ghosts|fiery spirits]].{{Ref|ACOK|30}}

* The [[Kingspyre Tower]] contains the castellan's chambers. It connects to the Widow's Tower via a stone bridge.{{ref|ACOK|38}}
* The [[Tower of Dread]] is near the middle bailey and the mews.{{ref|ACOK|47}}
* The [[Tower of Ghosts]] is near the postern gate on the east wall and the collapsed [[sept]].{{ref|ACOK|64}}
* The [[Wailing Tower]] contains storerooms on the ground floor and cavernous vaults beneath.{{ref|ACOK|30}}
* The [[Widow's Tower]] connects to the Kingspyre Tower via a stone bridge.{{ref|ACOK|38}} Underneath there is a great cell that is used to keep prisoners.{{ref|ACOK|47}}

[[House Whent]] uses only the lower thirds of two of the five towers, letting the rest go to ruin. [[Bat]]s infest the tops of some of the towers.{{Ref|ACOK|30}}

===Buildings===
[[File:Harenhal_tvseries.jpg|350px|thumb|Harrenhal in ''[[Game of Thrones]]'']]
* The [[Hall of a Hundred Hearths]] is the castle's great hall. It is the largest chamber in [[Westeros]], even larger than the [[Great Hall (Red Keep)|throne room]] of the [[Red Keep]].{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - War and Peace and Cattle Shows}} The hall has only thirty-three or thirty-five hearths, but is said to be able to entertain an army.{{Ref|ACOK|30}} Its floors are smooth [[slate]] and there are steps to two galleries above.{{ref|ASOS|37}}

* The [[kitchens of Harrenhal]] are located in a round stone building with a domed roof. The castle's kitchens are as large as the [[Great Hall of Winterfell]].{{Ref|ACOK|30}}

* The [[Barracks Hall]] above the armory is where the men-at-arms take their meals.{{Ref|ACOK|30}}

* Adjoining the armory is the smithy, a long building in the shape of a tunnel. It has twenty forges, stone water troughs, and a high roof.{{ref|ACOK|38}}

* [[Hunter's Hall]] is another hall of the castle.{{ref|AFFC|27}}

* The bathhouse is a low-ceilinged room filled with great stone tubs large enough to hold six or seven after the fashion of the [[Free Cities]].{{Ref|ASOS|37}} The bathhouse is made of stone and timber, with only one entrance to the room.{{Ref|ACOK|26}}

* Followers of the [[Faith of the Seven|Seven]] can pray in Harrenhal's [[sept]].{{ref|ACOK|43}} Near the [[Tower of Ghosts]] there is also a collapsed sept which has been abandoned since [[Aegon's Conquest]].{{ref|ACOK|64}}

* The long stables have slate roofs and can house a thousand [[horse]]s.{{ref|ASOS|44}}

* The mews are said to be haunted by the spirits of dead [[falcon]]s.{{ref|ACOK|47}}

===Other locations===
* The [[godswood of Harrenhal]] is walled over twenty acres{{ref|ACOK|30}} and has a small stream running through it.{{ref|ACOK|47}} The wood contains [[oak]]s, [[pine]]s, and [[sentinel]]s.{{ref|ACOK|47}}{{ref|ACOK|64}} Its [[heart tree]], a [[weirwood]], appears to have a terrible visage full of hatred, with a twisted mouth and flaring eyes.{{ref|ACOK|47}} The heart tree has thirteen deep marks carved into it dating to the [[Battle Above the Gods Eye]] in {{Date|130}} during the [[Dance of the Dragons]]. These marks still bleed every spring.{{ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant}}

* The [[Flowstone Yard]] is where [[men-at-arms]] exercise and drill and squires clean arms and armor. It has a lumpy surface and is located near the Wailing Tower. There is a covered gallery above the yard with arches looking towards it.{{Ref|ACOK|30}}{{Ref|ASOS|44}}

* The [[bear]] pit is ten yards by five yards across, walled in stone, floored with sand, and encircled by six tiers of [[marble]] benches.{{Ref|ASOS|44}} It is located in the middle ward.{{ref|ACOK|47}}