Riddle's Court is a Category A-listed merchant's tenement located just off the Lawnmarket on the Royal Mile. You can identify the site by its stone courtyard and the pend entrance, which features the Latin motto Vivendo Discimus—meaning By…
Old Town Closes and Wynds
Walk the steep, narrow alleys branching off the Royal Mile to see how medieval residents lived in vertical tenements. This downhill stroll takes you through quiet stone courtyards, hidden gardens, and historic lanes tucked behind the main street facades.
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1. Riddles Court
2. Lady Stair's Close
Lady Stair’s Close consists of a flagstoned courtyard accessed from the Lawnmarket. The property features a seventeenth-century style townhouse built with steep gables, ornate stonework, and a turret. This building underwent a…
3. Advocate's Close
Advocate's Close is a steep, narrow alleyway that drops sharply from the Royal Mile down toward Market Street and Cockburn Street. It is instantly recognizable by the framed view it offers of the Scott Monument, which sits perfectly…
4. Tweeddale Court
Tweeddale Court is identified by a commanding stone staircase and an entrance defined by the name Oliver and Boyd carved above a doorway. This courtyard, tucked away off the High Street, contains the core of a sixteen century townhouse…
5. Bakehouse Close
Bakehouse Close is recognizable by the long stone tunnel archway that leads into its cobblestoned courtyard. Built in fifteen seventy, this archway joined three separate houses into a single passage. The name of the alley recalls the…
6. Dunbars Close
Dunbar's Close is a narrow, cobbled passageway leading from the Royal Mile into a secluded garden laid out in the style of the seventeenth century. The space is defined by its parterres of clipped shrubs, gravel paths, and a canopy of…
7. White Horse Close
White Horse Close is an enclosed courtyard defined by its distinctive cluster of crow-stepped gables and external stone staircases. Tucked off the Canongate near the foot of the Royal Mile, it contains the remnants of the…