Mark Meek's Ideas: Edinburgh

The logical place to begin a visit to Edinburgh is at Edinburgh Castle. It is build on a geological formation known as a crag and tail. The castle is above the city, atop the crag, and the famed street, known as the Royal Mile, extends along the tail. Edinburgh Castle, at the high end of the Royal Mile, was the royal residence of Scotland before Holyroodhouse Palace, at the opposite end of the Royal Mile, was built. The Royal Mile is so-called because it's length is just about exactly a mile, actually a little bit more.

Edinburgh is a very photogenic city and I took a lot of photos there. This posting combines those photos with images from Google Earth and Street View. There is a section on Edinburgh in the posting "Travel Photos Of Europe" with the same photos. The links to those photos are from when the travel photos were on a separate blog.

Here is the photos of Edinburgh Castle, from the travel photo blog of Europe. Photos can be enlarged simply by clicking on them:

http://markmeekphotos.blogspot.com/2006/09/edinburgh-castle-scotland.html

These eight images of Edinburgh Castle are from Google Street View.

Scotland's crown jewels, called the Honours of Scotland, are displayed at Edinburgh Castle. These were used by the Scottish Monarchy before the country joined Britain in 1707. These are the oldest crown jewels in Britain, since England's original crown jewels were destroyed by Oliver Cromwell. This is the Crown of Scotland, image from the Wikipedia article "Honours of Scotland".

Another important Scottish royal artifact is the Stone of Scone. This is a rectangular block of sandstone that was the symbol of the Scottish monarchy and first used to crown Scottish kings nearly eight hundred years ago. It was captured during a conflict with England and brought to Westminster Abbey. It was actually incorporated into the English coronation throne, the symbolism being that the King of England is also the King of Scotland.

In 1950, four Scottish students managed to take the stone, in a carefully planned operation, and return it to Scotland. Authorities later recovered the stone and returned it to Westminster Abbey. In 1996, the stone was given back to Scotland. For some time it was in Edinburgh Castle. But it is Britain's coronation stone and temporarily returns to London when a new monarch is crowned.

I am going to approach Edinburgh by way of the contrast between the Old Town and the New Town. The Old Town, including the castle, is centered along the Royal Mile, while the New Town is aligned along Princes Street, which is roughly parallel to the Royal Mile.

In the first of the following scenes, we are in Edinburgh Castle looking northward. The closest buildings that are seen in the distance are along Princes Street, from which there is a spectacular view looking up at the castle. The trees between Princes Street and the castle is the Princes Street Gardens. The water in the far distance is the Firth of Forth, which separates the southern part of Scotland, where Edinburgh is located, from the rest of the country, to the north. The beginning of northern Scotland can be seen in the far distance.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.9487831,-3.2000375,3a,75y,337.03h,90.39t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s-SjYvdFlKB0V3usIWBm44Q!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D-SjYvdFlKB0V3usIWBm44Q%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D71.930229%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656

Here are the general photos of Edinburgh, from the Travel Photos Of Europe, around the Old Town area:

http://markmeekphotos.blogspot.com/2006/09/edinburgh-scotland.html

The Building, to the right, with the pillars is the Scottish National Gallery. This is in the green space between the New and the Old Towns. The buildings to the left are the Old Town. This park was formerly an artificial defensive lake that was later filled in.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250919.jpg

I went to a show of the Camera Obscura, next to Edinburgh Castle. The rotating dome on the top of the building has a large lens and images of the city outside are projected on a wall. Two images from Google Street View.

The route from Edinburgh Castle to Holyroodhouse Palace is the famed Royal Mile. Here are the photos of the Royal Mile from the travel photos of Europe blog. Notice the crowned church steeple, in the first and third photos from the top. That is St. Giles Cathedral, the national cathedral of Scotland.

John Knox was one of the great leaders of the Reformation, and he did a lot of preaching here. His supposed home is on the Royal Mile. His preaching turned Scotland from a stronghold of Catholicism into one of the most Protestant of nations. St. Giles Cathedral is actually the central cathedral of Presbyterianism. Image of a statue of John Knox from Google Street View.

The building with the two turrets, straight ahead in the bottom photo, is Holyroodhouse Palace. It was the residence of Scotland's royal family, until Scotland joined Britain in 1707. The British queen spends one week a year at Holyroodhouse. In the second photo from the top, I made a mistake. That is in Glasgow and not Edinburgh:

http://markmeekphotos.blogspot.com/2006/09/along-royal-mile-to-holyroodhouse.html

The following scenes on the Royal Mile begin inside St. Giles Cathedral. It is named for the patron saint of Edinburgh during the time of Catholicism. Next to the cathedral is the old parliament building from before Scotland joined Britain in 1707, after both ended up on the same side of the Reformation. Remember that the church with the crowned steeple is St. Giles.

The first three, of the following seven images from Google Street View, are of St. Giles Cathedral. The next two are of the old Parliament building, and the final two are general views along the Royal Mile.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.949494,-3.190985,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-JCHJvPh1YR4%2FUgV8B6m1qVI%2FAAAAAAAAT4k%2FzhSC_jiN74A5Zyb4dZM5HxFrWKGXJ6T7g!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-JCHJvPh1YR4%2FUgV8B6m1qVI%2FAAAAAAAAT4k%2FzhSC_jiN74A5Zyb4dZM5HxFrWKGXJ6T7g%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i4000!8i2000

Scotland is part of Britain, but has it's own parliament. This is Scotland's new Parliament Building, on the Royal Mile near Holyroodhouse Palace. Two images from Google Street View.

Nearby is the Scottish Government Building. Image from Google Street View.

The Old Royal High School was near Calton Hill. It closed and was considered for use as a parliament building. Image from Google Street View.

This is what Princes Street, in the New Town with it's many shops, looks like. It is from Princes Street that there is the spectacular view upward to Edinburgh Castle. The clock in the clock tower of the Balmoral Hotel is purposely set three minutes fast, so that no one will miss their train at nearby Waverley Station. The Balmoral Hotel is on the south side of Princes Street, but that side is ordinarily kept vacant to preserve the view up at the Old Town, which is centered along the Royal Mile. The first two of the following three images, from Google Street View, are general views of Princes Street. The third is of the Balmoral Hotel.

Near Holyroodhouse Palace, and at the end of Princes Street, is Calton Hill. This is where monuments of Scotland are located. The pillars are Scotland's National Monument. It was supposedly intended to be a temple, but was never finished. Six images from Google Street View.

This is the Admiral Nelson Monument.

This is the observatory on Calton Hill.

This is the Dugald Stewart Monument, for the Scottish philosopher.

Near Calton Hill is the Robert Burns Monument, for the Scottish poet.

Along Princes Street is the monument for the writer Sir Walter Scott.

The monuments on Calton Hill can be seen in the upper left background of this photograph:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250913.jpg

And also in the upper right background of this photograph:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250918.jpg

Holyroodhouse Palace and Abbey are at the bottom of the Royal Mile. The palace was the home of Scottish kings before the union with England in 1707. Edinburgh Castle, at the top of the Royal Mile was the royal residence before Holyroodhouse was built. The abbey is in ruins. An abbey was the church of a Catholic monastery, some of which were on the scale of cathedrals. After the Reformation, most abbeys became Protestant churches but some were simply abandoned and are now in ruins. That is why so many churches in Britain are called abbeys but we do not see that in North America.

This is Holyroodhouse Palace. The stone structure in front of the palace is the fountain. The first seven images are from Google Earth and Street View.