Edinburgh Castle, Scotland
This is a painting of Edinburgh Castle, as seen from the Grassmarket area below. We visited Edinburgh in the spring of 2018.
Much like the Acropolis in Athens, the castle can be glimpsed from many parts of the city and changes colour with the seasons and time of day. This angle gives the castle a solid and forboding presence, and it's clear why the local Iron Age residents chose to build their fortifications on this particular rocky outcrop.
This castle is one of my first and strongest memories from my European backpacking trip in 2003. I stayed in the Castle Rock Hostel not far from this vantage, and I was happy to see the hostel was apparently unchanged when we walked by 15 years later.
Edinburgh Castle was the scene of many battles and sieges over the centuries, and was home to numerous kings and queens of Scotland. It was heavily modified after the 17th century when it was reconstructed into a military garrison and barracks. Today the interior feels vaguely modern, invaded by tour bus hordes at all hours, and it lacks the atmosphere you might find in other more ruinous castles sprinkled around the Highlands.