EILEAN DONAN (Highlands) -- Famous post-card castle founded in 1230; this was pretty much completely rebuilt from a ruin -- it was bombarded by English ships during the 18th C to keep it out of the hands of the French and Jacobites -- just before World War I (like Duart on the Island of Mull) to satisfy the ego of a rich Scottish laird (MacRae) -- but his ego coincided with great esthetic sensibility, and this is one of the showplaces of Scotland. I have heard, but not yet seen, that the abominable road bridge to Skye that recently replaced the famous ferry has spoiled the famous view shown below.
The setting is absolutely spectacular, with the Seven Sisters of Kintail (mountains) rising behind, on an island at the juncture of two lochs and a river. As proven by its first demise, such a castle is vulnerable to artillery, however impregnable it may appear with its thick walls and large keep. That building on the left, now a tea room and ye-olde-shoppe, was outside the castle and was allocated to the garrison; presumably, the laird did not want them inside with his close friends and family.