Portal:Edinburgh
The Edinburgh Portal
Welcome! — Fàilte! — Walcome!
-
-
Edinburgh panorama from Calton Hill, early evening . -
Old town Skyline. -
View across Calton Hill monuments to Firth of Forth and Fife beyond. -
Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags, part of Holyrood Park. -
Edinburgh castle and Balmoral Hotel clock tower at night. -
_P-EDI_Banner.jpg){kind=small}
_P-EDI_Banner.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg)
Edinburgh 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 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 National War Museum is a museum dedicated to warfare, which is located inside Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. Opened in 1933 in a converted 18th-century ordnance storehouse, the museum is run by the National Museums Scotland and covers 400 years of Scotland at war from the 17th century through permanent exhibits and special exhibitions.
It was formerly known as the Scottish United Services Museum, and prior to this, the Scottish Naval and Military Museum. (Full article...)
Selected images
-
St Giles' Cathedral, the principal place of worship of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh -
-
The BT building in Edinburgh Park -
View looking west along George Street -
The Princes Street Gardens, the best known park in Edinburgh -
Edinburgh (from Salisbury Crags) by William Crozier, a painter associated with The Edinburgh School -
Scottish baronial-style turrets on Victorian tenements in St. Mary's Street -
The National Monument of Scotland (right) and Nelson Monument (left) -
The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Edinburgh Castle -
David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist born in Edinburgh in 1711 -
Charlotte Square, a garden square in the New Town -
The ruins of Holyrood Abbey -
The Governor's House -
Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland -
The Dean Gallery, part of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art -
-
-
The Castle Rock -
Jenners Department Store, the oldest department store in Scotland -
Queensferry Crossing road bridge -
City Observatory, the Gothic Tower -
Sir Walter Scott -
View over Edinburgh -
-
Two Edinburgh Trams seen at the West End - Princes Street stop -
Ratho Park Golf Club -
The High Street, part of the Royal Mile -
-
Fountain at Holyrood Palace -
Architecture in Edinburgh -
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Selected transportation article
The Edinburgh Airport Rail Link (EARL) was a proposed rail link to Edinburgh Airport, Scotland. The project was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2007, but following a change of government, was cancelled in September 2007 on the grounds of cost.
The link was planned to open in 2011 and would have included an underground airport station located beneath the terminal building. A tunnel was to have been constructed to take trains underneath the main runway. The Edinburgh Airport Rail Link would have allowed direct rail travel to and from the airport from Scotland's main towns and cities. New rolling stock was to be ordered for the service to compensate for any extra journey time created by the additional stop. (Full article...)
Selected area article
Kingsknowe (/ˌkɪŋzˈnaʊ/; Scottish Gaelic: Cnocan an Righ) is a suburb of Edinburgh the capital of Scotland. It is south-west of Craiglockhart, and borders Wester Hailes, Slateford and Longstone. (Full article...)
Selected environment article
Craiglockhart Hill is a combination of two summits, Easter and Wester Craiglockhart, in the suburb of Craiglockhart, Edinburgh.
Easter Craiglockhart Hill's summit is 158m high. In 2004 this hill was designated a local nature reserve. Wester Craiglockhart Hill has a summit of 175m. (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
"Flowers of Edinburgh" is a traditional fiddle tune, of eighteenth century Scottish lineage. It is also prominent in American fiddle, Canadian fiddle and wherever old time fiddle is cultivated. The tune is also the basis for a Morris Dance, in the Bledington style. (Full article...)
Selected education article
Heriot-Watt University (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by royal charter in 1966. It is the eighth-oldest higher education institution in the United Kingdom. The name Heriot-Watt was taken from Scottish inventor James Watt and Scottish philanthropist and goldsmith George Heriot.
The annual income of the institution for 2022–23 was £259.5 million of which £33 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £266.7 million. Known for its focus on science as well as engineering, it is one of the 23 colleges that were granted university status in the 1960s, and it is sometimes considered a plate glass university, like Lancaster and Warwick. (Full article...)
Selected sports article
Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of 20,421, which makes it the fifth-largest football stadium in Scotland. Easter Road is also known by Hibs fans as "The Holy Ground" or "The Leith San Siro". The venue has also been used to stage international matches, Scottish League Cup semi-finals and was briefly the home ground of the Edinburgh professional rugby union team.
Hibs first played at the present site of Easter Road in 1893. The ground holds the record attendance for a Scottish match outside Glasgow, when 65,860 attended an Edinburgh derby on 2 January 1950. The size of the terracing was greatly reduced in the 1980s. After the publication of the Taylor Report, Hibs considered leaving Easter Road and moving to a different site (Straiton, near Loanhead was mooted), but these plans were abandoned in 1994. Redevelopment of the stadium began in 1995 and was completed in 2010. The Easter Road pitch had a pronounced slope until it was removed in 2000. (Full article...)
Selected religion article
The Church of Scotland offices are located in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland (in the New Town), at 121 George Street. These imposing buildings are popularly known in Church circles as "one-two-one". They were designed in a Scandinavian-influenced style by the architect Sydney Mitchell and built in 1909–1911 for the United Free Church of Scotland. Following the union of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland in 1929 the church offices were henceforth used by the newly united church.
A matching extension, incorporating a ground floor bookshop, was built in the 1930s on the east side (119 George Street). A proposed matching extension on the west side (replacing the still-existing buildings at 123 George Street) was never built. 123 George Street is, however, owned by the Church of Scotland and has been incorporated into the offices. The church offices also incorporate a chapel near the main entrance and a staff canteen in the basement. (Full article...)
Related portals
Categories
Topics
In the news
No recent news
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
