The capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh is the heart of the largest urban settlement in the Scottish Lowlands. According to a census done in 2011 Scotland’s capital city has a population of over 495.000. The town is traditionally known as “built on Seven Hills”. During the Middle Ages Edinburgh flourished as an economical and trade point and became Scotland’s biggest merchant town. By the 14^th century it was already acknowledged as Scotland’s capital city. After the union between Scotland and England in 1707 the political power moved from Edinburgh to London and it would be almost 300 years later when the Scottish Parliament would be restored in Edinburgh. Edinburgh has a significant number of schools, one college formed by the merging of the three large colleges in Edinburgh, and four universities out of which the University of Edinburgh is the largest in Scotland.

After a referendum in 1997 it was decided that Scotland should again have its own Parliament. After the referendum and the shift of power from Westminster to Edinburgh, the new Parliament was temporarily housed in the General Assembly Hall until 2004 when the Scottish Parliament was moved to its permanent location in the Scottish Parliament Building. The Scotland Act 1998 determines exactly what the powers of the Scottish Parliament are and what decisions still belong to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Edinburgh is the UK’s second city in regard to the number of international tourists who come to visit every year. Over 1 million foreign visitors come to see Edinburgh’s main attractions. Edinburgh is divided into districts, with a city centre where old meets new. The city centre is divided by Princess Street Gardens into the Old Town in the south and the New Town in the north. Edinburgh’s amazingly well preserved medieval Old Town is a wonderful place to go for long walks and uncover past secrets of the town. Just like a typical old northern European city it is a maze with narrow alleys covered with cobbled stone. The most important buildings that are located in the Old Town are the Royal Museum of Scotland, the University of Edinburgh, St. Giles’ Cathedral, the Scottish Parliament Building, the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, Surgeons’ Hall, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The New Town offers the exact opposite layout to the Old Town with a much more orderly street grid. It was born as a solution to the increasingly crowded city. Buildings in a spectacular neoclassical architecture (like the Georgian House in Charlotte Square) can be seen in this area. Between the two parts of the city centre on top of Castle Rock lays Edinburgh Castle, one of Scotland’s iconic buildings. Both the Old Town and the New Town are included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 

Despite its Northern latitude Edinburgh has a temperate maritime climate with an average summer temperature around 22°C and with temperatures rarely dropping below 0°C during the daytime in the winter. Edinburgh is a windy city because of its positioning between the coast and hills. The airport in Edinburgh is the busiest in Scotland and plans for a future extension with at least one more terminal have already been discussed.  Lothian Buses operate on the majority of city bus lines and most of the public transport is done by buses. Glasgow Central station is the busiest railway station in Scotland with over 26 million passengers a year.

 

Did you know? ..... 10 Interesting Facts about Edinburgh

1. The Zoo in Edinburgh is the home of the only giant pandas in the UK.
2. Each August the city hosts the biggest annual international arts festival in the world.
3. Edinburgh is the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature.
4. Edinburgh’s population doubles during the international arts festival in August.
5. Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is the largest New Year’s street party in the world and it is an annual event for the city.
6. The last Royal Yacht used by the British monarch, the HMY Britannia, is permanently docked at Ocean Terminal in the Leith district of Edinburgh.
7. Edinburgh Castle is build on top of an extinct volcano.
8. One of the most photographed monuments in Edinburgh is Greyfriars Bobby, the statue of a 19th century Skye terrier who spent 14 years guarding his master’s grave.
9. In the 1800s the tusk of a mammoth was discovered during the build of the Union Canal.
10. The inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, was born in Edinburgh.