Dunnottar Castle

Dunnottar Castle is one of the most dramatically situated buildings in Scotland — a ruined medieval fortress occupying an almost impregnable sea stack of conglomerate rock rising 160 feet sheer from the North Sea, connected to the Aberdeenshire clifftops only by a narrow neck of land. The ruins are substantial: a keep, great hall, chapel, stables, and barracks spread across the summit of the rock, all accessible via a steep path from the cliff above.  The castle's most celebrated moment came in 1651–52 when it was besieged by Cromwell's army for eight months. During the siege, the Honours of Scotland — the Scottish Crown Jewels — were smuggled out and hidden in a nearby church, saving them from destruction. The castle was also the scene of the imprisonment of over 160 Covenanters in 1685 in conditions so brutal that a third of them died. Despite its violent history, the site is strikingly beautiful, and the walk down to the castle with the sea on three sides and seabirds on the cliffs is one of the great short walks in Scotland.