Portal:Edinburgh
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Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags, part of Holyrood Park. -
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Edinburgh castle and Balmoral Hotel clock tower at night. -
Old town Skyline. -
View across Calton Hill monuments to Firth of Forth and Fife beyond. -
Edinburgh panorama from Calton Hill, early evening . -
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Edinburgh (/ˈɛdɪnbərə/ ⓘ Scots: [ˈɛdɪnbʌrə]; Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann [ˌt̪un ˈeːtʲən̪ˠ]) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The city is located in south-east 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 mid-2020, making it the second-most populous city in Scotland and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The wider metropolitan area has a population of 912,490.
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 British 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. It 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 Pleasance is a street just outside the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland, a remnant of the Flodden Wall flanking the west side of the street between Drummond Street and the Cowgate. Historically, the street was one of the main routes into Edinburgh from the south, meeting St Mary's Wynd (now St Mary's Street) at St Mary's Wynd Port, one of the gateways of the town walls. The name derives from the Scots plesance, meaning a park or garden. It first appears in 1507 as the name of a nearby house, and was later transferred to the street and then the suburb which was part of the regality of the Canongate. The derivation of the name from a nunnery of St Mary of Placentia, often mentioned in histories of Edinburgh, is an invention by William Maitland in his 1753 History of Edinburgh.
The street is largely residential - mainly 19th century tenements and 20th century flats - although the University of Edinburgh owns property in the area, including a large new [2017] university student flats complex on St Leonard's Street, the southerly extension of the Pleasance, on a site formerly occupied by a Homebase home improvements and gardening store. In addition, although the Pleasance along with St Leonard's Street is a quieter area than the nearby main commercial centres and streets of the Southside there are several restaurants, pubs, a few shops, lawyers' offices, churches, and the modern St Leonard's police station. After years of planning blight from the 1960s and 1970s in which redevelopment of the formerly rather run-down area was hampered after the abandonment of bizarre plans to build a major road comparable to a motorway, from the late 20th century onwards the area benefited from a gradual renaissance. (Full article...)
Selected images
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Architecture in Edinburgh -
Fountain at Holyrood Palace -
Sir Walter Scott -
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The Castle Rock -
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Queensferry Crossing road bridge -
The Princes Street Gardens, the best known park in Edinburgh -
Charlotte Square, a garden square in the New Town -
Jenners Department Store, the oldest department store in Scotland -
The ruins of Holyrood Abbey -
The High Street, part of the Royal Mile -
Ratho Park Golf Club -
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Two Edinburgh Trams seen at the West End - Princes Street stop -
David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist born in Edinburgh in 1711 -
Edinburgh (from Salisbury Crags) by William Crozier, a painter associated with The Edinburgh School -
City Observatory, the Gothic Tower -
Scottish baronial-style turrets on Victorian tenements in St. Mary's Street -
View over Edinburgh -
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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 -
St Giles' Cathedral, the principal place of worship of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh -
The BT building in Edinburgh Park -
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The National Monument of Scotland (right) and Nelson Monument (left) -
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View looking west along George Street -
The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Edinburgh Castle
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Selected transportation article
The Union Canal was opened in 1822 and provides an inland waterway link from Edinburgh to Falkirk and from there to Glasgow via the Forth and Clyde Canal. It is currently owned by the public corporation Scottish Canals and chiefly used for leisure purposes. (Full article...)
Selected area article
Brunstane (/ˈbrʌnstən/ BRUN-stən) is a northeastern suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies on the A1 and is served by Brunstane railway station on the Borders Railway. Brunstane partly consists of new housing, such as the Gilberstoun estate, and also contains the 1950s council housing schemes known as Magdalene and the Christians, which are south and north of Milton Road respectively. (Full article...)
Selected environment article
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The Firth of Forth (Scottish Gaelic: Linne Foirthe) is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. (Full article...)
Did you know?
- ... that Prince Philip was the first member of the British royal family to fly in a helicopter?
- ... that George Parks was president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and his son Rowan Parks became president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh?
Selected arts article
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James Grant (1822–1887) was a Scottish novelist and miscellaneous writer.
Grant was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was a distant relation of Sir Walter Scott. He was a prolific author, writing some 90 books, including many yellow-backs. Titles included Adventures of an Aide-De-Camp, One of "The Six Hundred", The Scottish Musketeers and The Scottish Cavalier. (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
The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any football match played between Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian (Hibs), the two oldest professional clubs based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two clubs have a fierce rivalry that dates back to the clubs being founded in the mid-1870s, which makes it one of the longest running rivalries in world football. The first match between the clubs was played on the Meadows on Christmas Day 1875.
The matches are normally played at either Easter Road or Tynecastle. It has been regularly played in the top level of the Scottish football league system, although derbies were played in the second tier during the 2014–15 season. The teams sometimes also play against one another in cup tournaments, such as the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup. The clubs have met twice in Scottish Cup finals, in 1896 and 2012, both of which were won by Hearts. (Full article...)
Selected religion article
The Archdiocese of Saint Andrews & Edinburgh (Latin: Archidioecesis Sancti Andreae et Edimburgensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Scotland. It is the metropolitan see of the province of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, consisting of the additional suffragan sees of Aberdeen, Argyll and the Isles, Dunkeld, and Galloway. The archdiocese is led by Archbishop Leo Cushley, and its cathedral is St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh. (Full article...)
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