Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs, giving it a strong defensive position. Its strategic location, guarding what was, until the 1890s, the farthest downstream crossing of the River Forth, has made it an important fortification in the region from the earliest times.

Most of the principal buildings of the castle date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A few structures remain from the fourteenth century, while the outer defences fronting the town date from the early eighteenth century.

Before the union with England, Stirling Castle was also one of the most used of the many Scottish royal residences, very much a palace as well as a fortress. Several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542, and others were born or died there.

There have been at least eight sieges of Stirling Castle, including several during the Wars of Scottish Independence, with the last being in 1746, when Bonnie Prince Charlie unsuccessfully tried to take the castle. Stirling Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and is now a tourist attraction managed by Historic Environment Scotland.

Text adapted from “Stirling Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Stirling Castle ranks #77 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #4 of the 167 mapped in Scotland. Founded c. 1350, it is older than 57% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 582 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 41,100 times in the last 60 days, more than 99% of the atlas. 8 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Glasgow, 35 km away. See how Scotland compares in the castle statistics.

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