Scotland · 16th century
Culzean Castle ( kul-AYN, see yogh; Scots: Culzean, Culȝean, Colean) is a castle overlooking the Firth of Clyde, near Maybole, Carrick, in South Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. It is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa, the chief of Clan Kennedy, but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The clifftop castle lies within the 240 acres (97 ha) Culzean Castle Country Park, which also contains a walled garden, other estate buildings that are open to the public, shops and cafés, and a playground. The castle is open to the public throughout the summer, and the wider estate is open all year.
There are eight self-catering properties available for holiday rental within the country park, include the Brewhouse Flat which is located within the castle itself. The castle can also be hired for private events.
From 1972 until 2015, an illustration of the castle was featured on the reverse side of five pound notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Text adapted from “Culzean Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Culzean Castle ranks #616 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #18 of the 226 mapped in Scotland. Founded c. 1550, it is older than 37% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 891 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 9,675 times in the last 60 days, more than 93% of the atlas. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Glasgow, 66 km away. See how Scotland compares in the castle statistics.
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