Edinburgh

Edinburgh (pronounced {{IPA|/??d?n?br?/}}), Dùn Èideann ({{IPA|/tu?n ?e?t??n/}}) in Scottish Gaelic, is the second-largest city in Scotland and is the country's capital city.

The Centre

The historic centre of Edinburgh is divided into two by the broad green swath of Princes Street Gardens. To the south the view is dominated by Edinburgh Castle, perched atop an extinct volcanic crag, and the long sweep of the Old Town trailing after it along the ridge. To the north lies Princes Street and the New Town. The gardens were begun in 1816 on marsh land which had once been a loch, the Nor' Loch.

Related Topics:
Princes Street Gardens - Edinburgh Castle - Volcanic - Crag - Princes Street - 1816 - Loch

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Some 70 million years ago several volcanic vents in the area cooled and solidified to form tough basalt volcanic plugs, then later a glacier swept from west to east, exposing rocky crags to the west and leaving a tail of material swept to the east. At the castle rock this tail formed a narrow steep sided ridge, declining in height over a mile till it meets general ground level at Holyrood. At the same time, the glacier gouged out ground to each side, leaving the ravine of the Grassmarket and Cowgate to the south, and the swampy valley of the Nor' Loch to the north.

Related Topics:
Basalt - Volcanic plug - Glacier - Crag

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This formed a natural fortress, and recent excavations at the castle (described in Excavations within Edinburgh Castle by Stephen T. Driscoll & Peter Yeoman, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Monograph Series no.12 1997) found material dating back to the Late Bronze Age, as long ago as 850 BC.

Related Topics:
Fortress - 850 BC

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In the 1st century the Romans recorded the Votadini as a British tribe in the area, and about 600 the poem Y Gododdin using the Brythonic form of that name describes warriors feasting "in Eidin's great hall".

Related Topics:
1st century - Romans - Votadini - British - 600 - Y Gododdin - Brythonic

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The map co-ordinates of the centre of Edinburgh are approximately {{coor dm|55|57|N|3|11|W|}}.

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Old Town

The Old Town has preserved its medieval plan and many Reformation-era buildings. One end is closed by the castle and the main artery The High Street (or the Royal Mile) leads away from it; minor streets (called closes or wynds) bud off the main spine in a herringbone pattern. Large squares mark the location of markets or surround major public buildings such as St Giles Cathedral. This layout, typical of the old quarters of many northern European cities, is made especially picturesque in Edinburgh, where the castle perches on top of a rocky crag, the remnants of a dormant volcano, and the main street runs down the crest of a ridge from it. The topography for the city is known as "crag and tail" and was created during the ice age when receeding glaciers scored across the land pushing soft soil aside but being split by harder crags of volcaninc rock.

Related Topics:
Medieval - Reformation - The High Street - Royal Mile - St Giles Cathedral - Ice age

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The hilltop crag was the earliest part of the city to develop, becoming fortified and eventually developing into the current Edinburgh Castle. The rest of the city grew slowly down the tail of land from the Castle Rock. This was an easily defended spot with marshland on the south and a loch, the Nor Loch, on the north. Access up the main road to the settlement therefore was restricted by means of various gates and a City Wall (now mostly gone).

Related Topics:
Edinburgh Castle - Castle Rock - The Nor Loch - City Wall

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Due to the space restrictions imposed by the narrowness of the "tail" the Old Town became home to some of the earliest "high rise" residential buildings. Multi-story dwellings were the norm from the 1500s onwards. During the 1700s the Old Town had a population of about 80,000 residents. However, in more modern times it had declined dramatically to just 4,000 residents. There are currently approximately 20,000 residents in the various parts of the Old Town. As the population was for a long time reluctant to build outside the defensive wall, the need for housing grew and hence the buildings became higher and higher. However, many of these buildings were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1824. They were then rebuilt on the original foundations. This led to changes in the ground level and the creation of many passages and vaults under the Old Town.

Related Topics:
1500s - 1700s - Great Fire - 1824

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On December 7, 2002, another major fire in the Old Town engulfed part of the Cowgate. It destroyed the famous comedy club, The Gilded Balloon, and much of the Informatics department of the University of Edinburgh, including the comprehensive AI library.

Related Topics:
December 7 - 2002 - Major fire - Informatics department - University of Edinburgh - AI

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New Town

The New Town was an 18th century solution to the problem of an increasingly crowded Old Town. The city had remained incredibly compact, confined to the ridge running down from the castle. In 1766 a competition to design the New Town was won by James Craig, a 22-year old architect. The plan that was built created a rigid, ordered grid, which fitted well with enlightenment ideas of rationality. The principal street was to be George Street, which follows the natural ridge to the north of the Old Town. Either side of it are the other main streets of Princes Street and Queen Street. Princes Street has since become the main shopping street in Edinburgh, and few Georgian buildings survive on it. Linking these streets were a series of perpendicular streets. At the east and west ends are St. Andrew's Square and Charlotte Square respectively. The latter was designed by Robert Adam and is often considered one of the finest Georgian squares in Britain. Bute House, the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland, is on the north side of Charlotte Square.

Related Topics:
18th century - 1766 - James Craig - Enlightenment - Princes Street - Georgian - Robert Adam - Bute House - First Minister of Scotland

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Sitting in the valley between the Old and New Towns was the Nor' Loch, which had been both the city's water supply and place for dumping sewerage. By the 1820s it was drained. Some plans show that a canal was intended, but Princes Street Gardens are what was created. Excess soil from the construction of the buildings was dumped into the valley, creating what is now The Mound. In the mid-19th century the National Gallery of Scotland and Royal Scottish Academy Building were built on The Mound, and tunnels to Waverley Station driven through it.

Related Topics:
1820s - Princes Street Gardens - 19th century - National Gallery of Scotland - Royal Scottish Academy Building - Waverley Station

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The New Town was so successful that it was extended greatly. The grid pattern was not maintained, but rather a more picturesque layout was created.

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