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Inveraray Castle (Gaelic Caisteal Inbhir Aora, ) is a castle
Castle

A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territor...
 in western Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
. It is the seat of the Chief of Clan Campbell
Clan Campbell

Clan Campbell is historically one of the largest, most powerful and most successful of the Scottish Highlands Scottish clans....
, the Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll

The title Duke of Argyll was created in the British Peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The Earls, Marquesses, and Dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, noble family in Scotland....
.

The initial design for the castle was made in 1720 by the architect Sir John Vanbrugh, who also designed Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace

File:Blenheim main entrance.jpgBlenheim Palace is a large and monumental English country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire, England....
. This design was later developed by the architects Roger Morris and William Adam, who oversaw the beginning of the castle's construction in 1746, commissioned by Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, 1st Earl of Ilay was a Scotland nobleman, politician, lawyer, and soldier. He was known as Lord Archibald Campbell from 1703 to 1706, and as the Earl of Ilay from 1706 until 1743, when he succeeded to the dukedom....
.






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Inveraray
Inveraray Castle (Gaelic Caisteal Inbhir Aora, ) is a castle
Castle

A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territor...
 in western Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
. It is the seat of the Chief of Clan Campbell
Clan Campbell

Clan Campbell is historically one of the largest, most powerful and most successful of the Scottish Highlands Scottish clans....
, the Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll

The title Duke of Argyll was created in the British Peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The Earls, Marquesses, and Dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, noble family in Scotland....
.

The initial design for the castle was made in 1720 by the architect Sir John Vanbrugh, who also designed Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace

File:Blenheim main entrance.jpgBlenheim Palace is a large and monumental English country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire, England....
. This design was later developed by the architects Roger Morris and William Adam, who oversaw the beginning of the castle's construction in 1746, commissioned by Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, 1st Earl of Ilay was a Scotland nobleman, politician, lawyer, and soldier. He was known as Lord Archibald Campbell from 1703 to 1706, and as the Earl of Ilay from 1706 until 1743, when he succeeded to the dukedom....
. It was completed in 1789 for John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll
John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll

Field Marshal John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll , styled Marquess of Lorne from 1761 to 1770, was a Scotland soldier and nobleman.He was the son of John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll and Mary Bellenden, the daughter of John Bellenden, 2nd Lord Bellenden of Broughton....
 and his wife, Elizabeth. Built in an eclectic mixture of architectural revival styles, it stands on the original site of the village of Inveraray
Inveraray

Inveraray is a town and former Royal Burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, located on the western shore of Loch Fyne near its head, and on the A83 road....
 - when Archibald Campbell decided to build the castle he had the village demolished and rebuilt a mile away, so that it would not impinge on the castle's outlook.

Incorporating Baroque
Baroque architecture

Baroque architecture, starting in the early 17th century in Italy, took the humanist Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical, theatrical, sculptural fashion, expressing the triumph of absolutist church and state....
, Palladian and Gothic
Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late Middle Ages. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
 architectural features, the castle layout is square with four round, castelated towers at each corner, each of which bears a conical spire. It is surrounded by of formal gardens and of parkland and lies around a mile north of the village of Inveraray
Inveraray

Inveraray is a town and former Royal Burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, located on the western shore of Loch Fyne near its head, and on the A83 road....
, near the shore of Loch Fyne
Loch Fyne

Loch Fyne is a sea loch on the west coast of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It extends 65 kilometres inland from the Sound of Bute, making it the longest of the sea lochs....
 in Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute

Argyll and Bute is both one of 32 Council areas of Scotland; and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland in Scotland. The administrative centre for the council area is located in Lochgilphead....
.

The castle was damaged by two major fires, in 1877 and 1975, but most of its important artefacts and features survived or have been restored. It contains outstanding furnishings and interiors from the 18th and 19th centuries. The elaborate decoration of the castle's State Dining Room, completed in 1784, is the only surviving work of the French painters Girard and Guinard, who were also commissioned by the then Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the Heir Apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom . The current Prince of Wales is Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom....
 (later George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom

George IV was the king of Kingdom of Hanover and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from the death of his father, George III of the United Kingdom, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later....
) to decorate his London residence, Carlton House
Carlton House

Carlton House was a mansion in London, best known as the town residence of the Prince Regent for several decades from 1783. It faced the south side of Pall Mall, London, and its gardens abutted St....
. The Armoury Hall, which contains a display of wall-mounted weapons dating from around 1740, has the highest ceiling in Scotland (21 metres, or nearly 69 feet).

Inveraray Castle is the home of the current duke
Duke

A duke is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy or a dukedom. The title comes from the Latin language Dux Bellorum, which had the sense of "military commander" and was employed by both the Germanic peoples themselves and by the Ancient Rome authors covering them to r...
 (Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll
Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll

Torquhil Ian Campbell, 13th and 6th Duke of Argyll is a Scotland peerage of Scotland; he is also the 6th Duke of Argyll in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and, at the age of , the youngest duke in the kingdom having succeeded aged 33 when his father died suddenly after an Surgery operation....
) and his family, but its distinctive appearance, beautiful interiors and attractive setting make it a popular tourist attraction
Tourist attraction

A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
, and it is open to visitors at certain times of the year.

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