Overview

Edinburgh

Historic Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s Old Town has a remarkably rich history and is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The street layout, typical of the old quarters of many northern European cities, is especially picturesque, with the castle perched on the remnants of a dormant volcano.

The main street – known as the Royal Mile – runs down a ridge, with narrow alleyways called closes or wynds leading off on either side in a herringbone pattern.

In medieval times, residents were reluctant to build outside Edinburgh’s defensive wall. The resulting space restrictions meant that the Old Town became home to some of the earliest high rise residential buildings in Europe, with multi-story dwellings becoming the norm from the 1500s onwards.

Many of these buildings were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1824, after which rebuilding on the original foundations led to changes in the ground level and the creation of a labyrinth of passages and vaults under the Old Town.