Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle
painted around 1780 by Alexander Nasmyth

Edinburgh (pronounced ED-in-burra (SAMPA: ["Ed@n%b@r@])), Dun Eideann in Scots Gaelic, is a major and historic city on the east coast of Scotland on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, and in the unitary council region of City of Edinburgh. It has been the capital of Scotland since 1492 and is the site of the Scottish Parliament, which was re-established in 1999. In the census of 2002 Edinburgh had a total resident population of 448,624.

Edinburgh is well known for the Edinburgh Festival, a collection of several festivals, and for the Hogmanay celebrations which are becoming one of the largest in the world. The city is affectionately nicknamed "Auld Reekie" (Old Smokey).

The Centre

One of Edinburgh's most notable features is Edinburgh Castle which overlooks the city's Princes Street, and is at the top of the Royal Mile leading to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Princes Street Gardens run between the extinct volcanic crag that the castle is built on and Princes Street. The grounds that the Gardens now occupy used to be marshland that ran right around the base of Castle Rock up along the Grassmarket and Cowgate, and indeed the area to the north of the Castle was formerly a lake, the Nor'Loch.

Viewpoints

Another of Edinburgh's notable features is Arthur's Seat, a collection of side vents of the main volcano that Edinburgh is built on. The volcano slipped and tipped sideways, leaving these vents the highest points for miles around. Arthur's Seat is now part of Holyrood Park, originally owned by the monarch and part of the grounds of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It contains Britain's largest concentration of geological SSSIs, as well as providing the people of Edinburgh with spectacular views of and from Arthur's Seat and somewhere to relax after a long day in the city.

Another viewpoint is provided by Calton Hill.

The Harbour

See also: Granton, Newhaven, Edinburgh

Old Town and New Town

Central Edinburgh is split into the Old Town and the New Town, both of great architectural interest. The Old Town is almost an archetype. It has a castle on high ground with a main street (the Royal Mile) leading away from it, that street having minor streets (called closes) leading off it in a herringbone like pattern. Large squares mark the location of markets, or surround major public buildings. This street plan recurs throughout the old quarters of northern European cities. In Edinburgh's case it is exaggerated by the castle being on top of a small mountain, and the main street down the crest of a ridge.

The old city is also home to some of the earliest "high rise" residential buildings. The population were for a long time reluctant to build outside the defensive wall, so as the need for housing grew the buildings became higher and higher. Unfortunately, on December 7 2002, a major fire in the Old Town engulfed the Cowgate, destroying the famous comedy club The Gilded Balloon and much of the Informatics department of the University of Edinburgh.

Meanwhile, the new town, built in several phases, is also almost an archetype of the carefully planned, classically styled estates developed in the later 18th century.

See also: Areas of Edinburgh, Peatrig Hill, Forth Rail Bridge, Forth Road Bridge, Edinburgh Botanic Garden, Dean Village, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh International Airport, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh Dialect

Famous Residents

• writer J. K. Rowling, who wrote her first book in an Edinburgh coffee-shop
• writer Arthur Conan Doyle, who was born in the city's New Town
• Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was born in the city and attended its exclusive Fettes high school
• telephone pioneer Alexander Graham Bell was born in Edinburgh
• obstetrician James Young Simpson conducted the first experimental use of chloroform for anaesthesia
• World War One field marshal Douglas Haig was born in Edinburgh
• William Burke and William Hare, noted grave-robbers, plundered the city's graveyards
• Robert Louis Stevenson, novelist, wrote fondly of the city before moving to Samoa
• John Porteous, captain of the city guard, lynched during the Porteous Riots of 1736

The name Edinburgh has also been given to places elsewhere in the world, mainly by Scottish settlers:

• Edinburgh, Indiana, United States of America

The gaelic name Dun Eideann has also been given to other cities, including:

• Dunedin, New Zealand
• Dunedin, Florida

Referenced By