Famous Landmarks in Edinburgh
A fortress on a volcanic crag anchors a skyline of Gothic spires and a royal palace.
Edinburgh's skyline is arranged around Castle Rock, a volcanic outcrop that has carried a fortress since at least the eleventh century and still dominates the historic core. Around its base, the oldest public buildings cluster along the ridge running down toward Holyrood: a Gothic cathedral rebuilt across the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, and, at the foot of the slope, the royal palace that has hosted the monarch in Scotland since the sixteenth century. Nineteenth-century Edinburgh added its own layer, most visibly a Gothic memorial to a novelist standing in a public garden below the castle. Further out, where the Firth of Forth bounds the city to the north, a cantilever railway bridge of 1890 shows the same era's confidence in engineering rather than stone.
Edinburgh Castle
1103
It occupies the sheer sides of a volcanic crag, its grey battlements and towers stepping up the rock in tiers above the surrounding streets, forming the fortified skyline that closes one end of the city's historic ridge.
A royal castle has stood on Castle Rock since the reign of Malcolm III in the eleventh century, serving as a residence until 1633 before its role shifted to a military garrison from the seventeenth century onward. Over the centuries it has functioned as an arsenal, a treasury, a national archive, a mint, a prison and a fortress, and it holds the Honours of Scotland, the country's regalia. Recognised as a heritage asset from the early nineteenth century, it has undergone restoration since the mid-nineteenth century and today operates chiefly as a museum.
- A 2014 study counted 26 sieges in its history, giving it a claim to being the most besieged place in Great Britain.
- It has served at different times as a mint, a prison, a national archive and a treasury.
Photo: Michael D Beckwith (CC0)
Scott Monument
1844
A dark, multi-tiered stone spire rises alone in a sunken public garden between the main shopping street above and a railway station below, its pointed arches and pinnacles built up in diminishing stages.
This Victorian Gothic memorial honours the novelist and poet Walter Scott. It stands in Princes Street Gardens, facing the former Jenners department store across Princes Street and close to the railway station that takes its name from Scott's Waverley novels. Completed in 1844, it ranks as the second-largest monument built for a writer anywhere in the world, surpassed only by the José Martí monument in Havana.
- It is exceeded in size only by the José Martí monument in Havana among monuments to writers.
- The railway station beside it takes its name from Scott's Waverley novels.
Photo: Enrohm1963 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
St Giles' Cathedral
14th–16th century
A large Gothic church begun in the fourteenth century stands along the city's main historic street, with a distinct small chapel added onto one corner in the early twentieth century as the later Thistle Chapel.
Probably founded in the twelfth century and dedicated to Saint Giles, the present Gothic building was begun in the fourteenth century and extended until the early sixteenth. It was raised to collegiate status by Pope Paul II in 1467 and turned Protestant in 1559 under John Knox. After the Reformation it was partitioned to house several congregations and, at times, a prison and the meeting place of the Parliament of Scotland; Charles I made it a cathedral in 1633. Alterations continued into the twentieth century, including the addition of the Thistle Chapel.
- In 1637, a riot sparked by a new prayer book imposed by Charles I helped set off the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
- After the Reformation the building was partitioned to hold several separate congregations, plus, at times, a prison and the meeting place of the Parliament of Scotland, under one roof.
Photo: Alan Findlay (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Palace of Holyroodhouse
1679
The palace sits at the foot of the Royal Mile, at the opposite end from Edinburgh Castle, adjoining Holyrood Abbey with its grounds merging into Holyrood Park; a separate gallery building at its western entrance, opened in 2002, displays works from the Royal Collection.
The official residence of the monarch of the United Kingdom in Scotland stands at the foot of the Royal Mile, opposite Edinburgh Castle, adjoining Holyrood Abbey and set within Holyrood Park. It has served as the principal royal residence in Scotland since the sixteenth century and retains the historic apartments of Mary, Queen of Scots alongside State Apartments used for official entertaining. The King's Gallery, converted from existing buildings at the western entrance and opened in 2002, exhibits works from the Royal Collection. The monarch resides there for a week each summer.
- The King's Gallery, opened in 2002, was converted from existing buildings rather than built new.
- For one week each summer the monarch is formally in residence, and the State Apartments close to visitors.
Photo: Daniel Kraft (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Forth Bridge
1890 · John Fowler and Benjamin Baker
Steel lattice cantilever towers rise from piers set in the water, linked by trusses that carry a double railway line for 2,467 metres between two small ferry villages on opposite shores.
This cantilever railway bridge crosses the Firth of Forth some nine miles west of central Edinburgh, carrying the Edinburgh–Aberdeen line between the villages of South Queensferry and North Queensferry. Designed by engineers John Fowler and Benjamin Baker, it was built from 1882 and opened on 4 March 1890 by the Duke of Rothesay, later Edward VII. At 2,467 metres long, it held the record for the world's longest single cantilever span until 1919 and remains the second-longest. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site owned by Network Rail.
- Its main span held the world record for the longest single cantilever bridge until Canada's Quebec Bridge overtook it in 1919.
- It was opened in 1890 by the Duke of Rothesay, who later became King Edward VII.
- A 2016 poll voted it Scotland's greatest man-made wonder.
Photo: George Gastin (CC BY-SA 3.0)
History
Edinburgh has been recognised as Scotland's capital since at least the fifteenth century, but its built history starts earlier: a royal castle stood on Castle Rock from the reign of Malcolm III in the eleventh century, though its residential role declined after the fifteenth century and it became a military garrison. St Giles', probably founded in the twelfth century, was rebuilt as a Gothic church across the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, became collegiate in 1467, turned Protestant in 1559 under John Knox, and was made a cathedral in 1633, tied up in the unrest that followed Charles I's attempt to impose a new prayer book. Holyroodhouse became the principal royal residence from the sixteenth century onward. Later additions read differently: a monument to Walter Scott went up in 1844, and the Forth Bridge, a feat of Victorian steel engineering, opened in 1890.