Just as the planning of the Royal Victoria Hospital is indicative of advances in science and medicine during the mid nineteenth century, the style of the buildings reveals much about those who were responsible for their construction. The numerous peaks, turrets and cornices of the 'magnificent pile of buildings' executed in the Scottish Baronial style are still imposing today, and must have been even more so when the hospital was opened in 1893. Perched in solitude on the slopes of Mount Royal, it is little wonder that the newspapers of the day described it allegorically as a 'fortress' for the sick and injured of the city. While the choice of the Scottish Baronial was fitting given the origins of the two founders, a large influence was played by the fact that the Royal Edinburgh Infirmary, after which the Royal Victoria Hospital was modeled, was executed in that style. There is also the importance of Fyvie Castle, near Haddo House, seat of the Earl of Aberdeen (References to the castle as the source of stylistic inspiration for the Royal Victoria were made in the description of the buildings published in the Gazette on opening day). It is no coincidence that the Earl of Aberdeen was the Governor General of Canada at the time of the Royal Victoria's construction, and also the official visitor to the hospital. Constructed from the 13th to 17th century, Fyvie Castle is an excellent example of the early Scottish Baronial style, and its similarities with the Royal Victoria Hospital are quite apparent. Particularly striking are the two central towers that form the focal point of each building's principal facade. Both are characterized by two large flanking circular towers into which an entryway is set. These towers are joined by a vault, above which are a series of smaller turrets and a hip roof. Also constructed in an H shape plan, Fyvie Castle features four garde robe towers on its two front wings, although these do not span the full height of the building as do those of the Royal Victoria. As a stylistic example, the Royal Victoria stands alone in Montreal. In a letter to the Montreal Daily Star, Supervising architect James R. Rhind commented, "It is strange that in this good city of Montreal, in which there are so many wealthy Scotsmen, that the Royal Victoria Hospital should be the only building in the Scottish Baronial style of architecture, and that it should be designed by an Englishman." (1)