Dunnottar Castle (Dùn Fhoithear, “fort on the shelving slope” in Scottish Gaelic) is a ruined medieval fortress on the northeastern coast of Scotland. Although the site is believed to have been fortified in the Early Middle Ages, the surviving buildings are largely of the 15th and 16th centuries.
The earliest written reference to the site is found in the Annals of Ulster which record two sieges of “Dún Foither” in 681 and 694. The Scottish Chronicle records that King Donald II of Scotland was killed at Dunnottar during an attack by Vikings in 900. During the reign of King William the Lion (1165–1214) Dunnottar was a center of local administration for The Mearns county. The poet Blind Harry relates that William Wallace captured Dunnottar from the English in 1297.
Dunnottar is also known as the place where the Scottish crown jewels were hidden from Oliver Cromwell’s invading army in the 17th century. The cliff top fortress was the home of the Earls Marischal, once one of the most powerful families in Scotland.