Stirling Castle (18)
While the newly refurbished Great Hall is the jewel in the crown when Stirling Castle is viewed from afar - particularly from the east, the most important building is the rectangular Palace block, which occupies the south-west corner of the castle.  

The Palace was built for King James V and his wife, Mary de Guise, although the king probably died before it was completed.  It contains separate King's Lodgings and Queen's Lodgings, and it has all been wonderfully restored in recent times.  I always think it a shame when places like this are bare of furniture, but the argument is that with the upheavals that followed King James' death, including attacks by the armies of King Henry VIII, the King's Lodgings probably remained unfurnished for many years after their completion.

The most famous decorative feature of the palace is/are the Stirling Heads.  When built, the ceiling of the Inner Hall or 'Presence Chamber', used for formal audiences with the monarch, was decorated with images of the Stewart kings including James V himself of course, his mother Mary Tudor (sister of Henry VIII), William Wallace, Robert Bruce, and many other worthy figures past and present, including Roman Emperors and the God Hercules!  The original 'heads' survived until 1777, when the ceiling collapsed.  Fortunately records were kept of what they looked like and have been used to create replicas.  
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