Scotland · Restored
Castle Stuart
Castle Stuart is a 17th-century Scottish tower house on the banks of the Moray Firth, completed in 1625 for the Earls of Moray. After centuries of dereliction it has been restored and now operates as a luxury hotel; the building retains its original tower-house composition and prominent stair-tower.
First raised
1619
Its prime
1625
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1625
The shape it held in its prime.
A compact, multi-storey stone tower house of ashlar sandstone with a tall rectangular main block and a prominent round stair-tower capped by an open stone crown and finial. To the right a crenellated rectangular tower rises above the roofline; the left range presents steep, stone-slate pitched roofs with several gabled projections and grouped chimneys. Walls show regularly spaced narrow rectangular windows; the house sits on low coastal ground beside the Moray Firth, complete and occupied in its prime.
Its story
The story of Castle Stuart.
The land on which Castle Stuart stands was granted to the 1st Earl of Moray by his half-sister, Mary, Queen of Scots, after her return to Scotland in 1561. The successive murders of Lord Moray and his son-in-law, the 2nd Earl of Moray, delayed the work, and the tower house was finally completed by his grandson, the 3rd Earl, in 1625.
Though it initially flourished, the castle fell into disuse as the fortunes of the House of Stuart sank during the English Civil War and the execution of Charles I in 1649. It lay derelict for some 300 years before restoration, and now operates as a luxury hotel on the banks of the Moray Firth, about six and a half miles northeast of Inverness.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1625.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Castle Stuart — including the full exterior approach. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Castle Stuart with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1625 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Castle Stuart.
The families that held Castle Stuart for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Stuart
Built by the Stuart Earls of Moray on land granted to the 1st Earl by Mary, Queen of Scots in 1561, and completed by the 3rd Earl in 1625.
