The History of Edinburgh

Charlotte Square is defined by its unified, palace-fronted stone facades that wrap around a central, private garden. Designed by the architect Robert Adam in seventeen ninety-one, this square serves as the western termination of George…

Edinburgh Castle sits atop a jagged, three hundred and fifty million year old volcanic plug known as Castle Rock. This massive dark outcrop, which rises sharply above the city, has been a fortress since the Iron Age and remains the most…

Gladstone's Land is a six-storey tenement building on the Royal Mile that you can identify by the golden sculpture of a hawk clutching a mouse hanging above the entrance. Built in fifteen fifty, the house underwent a major redevelopment in…

The most recognizable feature of St Giles' Cathedral is the stone crown spire that pierces the Edinburgh skyline. Supported by eight flying buttresses, the open shape of this spire is modeled on the royal crown of Scotland. While the…

The John Knox House is distinguished by a timber gallery that projects over the High Street, a signature feature of Edinburgh’s medieval architecture. Built in the late fifteenth century, the house is a rare survivor from a time when the…

The Scottish Parliament Building is defined by its low-lying, organic arrangement of interconnected structures, featuring a roofline that resembles upturned boats and concrete, branch-like shapes that appear to sprout from the hillside.…

Holyrood Abbey is identified by its stark, roofless nave, which stands as a skeleton of pale stone against the backdrop of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Founded in eleven twenty-eight by King David the First, the abbey was built to house a…

Arthur’s Seat is a craggy, extinct volcano rising two hundred and fifty-one meters above the city of Edinburgh. From several angles, the mountain’s rounded contours and rocky outcrops resemble a lion couchant, with the Lion's Head and…