Portal:Edinburgh
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View across Calton Hill monuments to Firth of Forth and Fife beyond. -
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Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags, part of Holyrood Park. -
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Old town Skyline. -
Edinburgh panorama from Calton Hill, early evening . -
Edinburgh castle and Balmoral Hotel clock tower at night.
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Edinburgh (/ˈɛdɪnbərə/ ⓘ, ED-in-bər-ə; Scots: [ˈɛdɪnbʌrə]; Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann [t̪un ˈeːtʲən̪ˠ]) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth estuary and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in 2020, making it the second-most populous city in Scotland and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The wider metropolitan area had a population of 912,490 in the same year.
Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament, the highest courts in Scotland, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. It is also the annual venue of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scottish law, literature, philosophy, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of three in the city, is considered one of the best research institutions in the world. The financial centre of Scotland, Edinburgh is the second-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom, the fourth largest in Europe, and the thirteenth largest internationally.
The city is a cultural centre, and is the home of institutions including the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery. The city is also known for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe, the latter being the world's largest annual international arts festival. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, and the extensive Georgian New Town built in the 18th/19th centuries. Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. The city's historical and cultural attractions have made it the UK's second-most visited tourist destination, attracting 4.9 million visits, including 2.4 million from overseas in 2018. (Full article...)
Selected location article
The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by architect C. J. Phipps at a cost of £17,000 on behalf of James B. Howard and Fred. W. P. Wyndham, two theatrical managers and performers whose partnership became the renowned Howard & Wyndham Ltd created in 1895 by Michael Simons of Glasgow.
With only four minor refurbishments, in 1929, 1977, 1991, and 1996, the Royal Lyceum remains one of the most original and unaltered of the architect's works. (Full article...)
Selected images
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The Dean Gallery, part of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art -
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The ruins of Holyrood Abbey -
Two Edinburgh Trams seen at the West End - Princes Street stop -
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Ratho Park Golf Club -
Queensferry Crossing road bridge -
The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Edinburgh Castle -
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View looking west along George Street -
The High Street, part of the Royal Mile -
The Governor's House -
Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland -
City Observatory, the Gothic Tower -
The BT building in Edinburgh Park -
Scottish baronial-style turrets on Victorian tenements in St. Mary's Street -
Architecture in Edinburgh -
View over Edinburgh -
Edinburgh (from Salisbury Crags) by William Crozier, a painter associated with The Edinburgh School -
David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist born in Edinburgh in 1711 -
The Castle Rock -
Fountain at Holyrood Palace -
The National Monument of Scotland (right) and Nelson Monument (left) -
Charlotte Square, a garden square in the New Town -
Jenners Department Store, the oldest department store in Scotland -
The Princes Street Gardens, the best known park in Edinburgh -
St Giles' Cathedral, the principal place of worship of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh -
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Sir Walter Scott
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Selected transportation article
Selected area article
Corstorphine (Scottish Gaelic: Crois Thoirfinn) (/kərˈstɔːrfɪn/ kər-STOR-fin) is an area of the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh. Formerly a separate village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, it is now a suburb of the city, having been formally incorporated into it in 1920.
Corstorphine has a high street with many independent small shops, although a number have closed in recent years since the opening of several retail parks to the west of Edinburgh, especially the Gyle Centre. Traffic on the main street, St John's Road, is often heavy, as it forms part of the A8 main road between Edinburgh and Glasgow. The actual "High Street" itself is no longer the main street, an anomaly shared with central Edinburgh. (Full article...)
Selected environment article
Arthur's Seat (Scottish Gaelic: Suidhe Artair, pronounced [ˈs̪ɯi.əˈaɾt̪ʰəɾʲ]) is an ancient extinct volcano that is the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland, which form most of Holyrood Park, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design". It is situated just to the east of the city centre, about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of Edinburgh Castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 250.5 m (822 ft), provides excellent panoramic views of the city and beyond, is relatively easy to climb, and is popular for hillwalking. Though it can be climbed from almost any direction, the easiest ascent is from the east, where a grassy slope rises above Dunsapie Loch. At a spur of the hill, Salisbury Crags has historically been a rock climbing venue with routes of various degrees of difficulty. Rock climbing was restricted to the South Quarry, but access was banned altogether in 2019 by Historic Environment Scotland. (Full article...)
Did you know?
- ... that East Suffolk Park, a former student hostel in Edinburgh, was once an internment camp for enemy aliens?
- ... that a lane behind a tenement in Edinburgh is decorated as a Wild West town?
Selected arts article
The City of Edinburgh Music School (TCoEMS) is a state-maintained music school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded as the Lothian Specialist Music School in 1980, it changed its name in 1996 when Lothian Regional Council was dissolved into four separate unitary councils. It is a non-residential school, and because it is funded by the City of Edinburgh Council, it charges no fees. It is split between two schools; Flora Stevenson Primary School and Broughton High School. This allows for students to start in their first year of primary school and leave in their final year of high school. It acquired new premises in 2009 when a new section was added to Flora Stevenson Primary School and a new building was constructed for Broughton High School. Unlike some standalone music schools, pupils attend comprehensive schools for the majority of their academic classes.
The school became an 'All-Steinway School' in 2009, meaning that every piano within the school is of the Steinway brand. It was awarded a plaque in commemoration of this from Steinway & Sons on 21 July 2009. (Full article...)
Selected education article
List of schools in Edinburgh is a list of schools in the City of Edinburgh council area of Scotland. It lists schools both within Edinburgh itself, and in outlying villages within the local government boundary. (Full article...)
Selected sports article
Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football. Hearts, the oldest football club in the Scottish capital, was formed in 1874, its name influenced by Walter Scott's novel The Heart of Midlothian. The club crest is based on the Heart of Midlothian mosaic on the city's Royal Mile; the team's colours are maroon and white.
Hearts have played home matches at Tynecastle Park since 1886. After converting the ground into an all-seater stadium in 1990, it now has a capacity of 19,852 following the completion of a rebuilt main stand in 2017. They have training facilities at the Oriam, Scotland's national performance centre for sport, where they also run their youth academy. (Full article...)
Selected religion article
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, also known as St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic church in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh and the mother church of Scots Catholicism. The cathedral church is located at the East End of New Town in the city center. (Full article...)
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