EDINBURGH (GREAT BRITAIN, SCOTLAND)
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is lawfully considered to be one of the most picturesque cities of Great Britain. The city was founded in X-XI centuries, and since XV until XVII centuries was the capital of Scotland. Edinburgh strikes with abundance of its places of interest; for that fact it was even called the “Northern Athens.” 16,000 buildings are included into the list of the most important historical and architectural constructions of the city; many of them are part of the World Cultural Heritage.
The most famous monument is the Edinburgh Castle that stands on a rock towering over the city 133 meters high. According to historical evidence, the castle has been there since XI century, but the first buildings on this site appeared almost 1,400 years ago. Since XI till XVI centuries, the castle was the residence of Scottish monarchy. At the present time it is the seat of the headquarters of the Scottish army division. The most interesting building of the city is the Royal Palace with the octal tower where Mary Stewart gave birth to King James I. The castle was continually rebuilt and enlarged –– up to 1927 when the War Memorial was opened dedicated to the Scotch who fell during WWI (now also to the victims of the WWII). The oldest building of this complex is St. Margaret chapel. The Edinburgh castle is not only the Royal residence but, in the first place, a fortified construction. The bastions, fortress walls, ancient weapons installed upon them including the famous Mons Meg gun cast in 1457 without ornaments or other architectural fancies continually testify about that. One of the guns, which is more modern, is regularly used for traditional gun fires at noon. At the gates of the castle there is an esplanade –– a small square designated to hold marches on it. Annually, in the end of August, the main ceremony of a picturesque festival of military orchestras of the whole world takes place here, which is traditionally opened by a performance of Scottish bagpipe player and dramas. The museum of Scottish united armed forces operates in the castle, while in the palace one can see a collection of Royal jewelries.
East of the castle there is the Old City (middle ages). On the famous Royal Mile street one can see architecturally unusual St. Gilles cathedral, magnificent building of the city’s magistrate, numerous monuments and old houses. The street leads to the Holy Road House Palace. It used to be the Royal residence in different periods of time starting from XVI century. In this palace Mary Stewart lived the biggest part of her life. The palace is still the official residence of the Crown in Scotland, so access to it is limited. One can see only some of the inner rooms, walk around a certain part of the adjacent territory and the ruins of the Abbey. In the museum located here there is an excellent collection of ancient furniture, jewelry and portraits of Scottish kings. On Calton Hill, around which the Old City is located, several monuments of architecture are gathered together: the National Monument, a monument to Nelson and two observatories, one of which today is turned into a museum. The National Monument was created in memory of those who died during the Napoleon wars. The National Monument was initially designed as a copy of the Parthenon of the Athens that consisted of 64 columns, but lack of financial means did not allow erecting more than one fifth of the conceived. When one ascends the viewing point at the Nelson’s monument one will see the unique panoramic view of Edinburgh and the sea bay.
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