Scotland · 12th century
St Andrews Castle is a ruin located in the coastal Royal Burgh of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. The castle sits on a rocky promontory overlooking a small beach called Castle Sands and the adjoining North Sea. There has been a castle standing at the site since the times of Bishop Roger (1189–1202), son of the Earl of Leicester. It housed the burgh’s wealthy and powerful bishops while St Andrews served as the ecclesiastical centre of Scotland during the years before the Protestant Reformation. In their Latin charters, the Archbishops of St Andrews wrote of the castle as their palace, signing, "apud Palatium nostrum."
The castle's grounds are now maintained by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument. The site is entered through a visitor centre with displays on its history. Some of the best surviving carved fragments from the castle are displayed in the centre, which also has a shop.
Text adapted from “St Andrews Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
St Andrews Castle ranks #1,636 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #56 of the 226 mapped in Scotland. Founded 1200, it is older than 75% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 756 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,313 times in the last 60 days, more than 80% of the atlas. 5 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Dundee, 17 km away. See how Scotland compares in the castle statistics.
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