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Old Town, Edinburgh
The Old Town () is the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Scottish Reformation, Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-century New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, and West End, Edinburgh, West End, it forms part of a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. Royal Mile The "Royal Mile" is a name coined in the early 20th century for the main street of the Old Town which runs on a downwards slope from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace and the ruined Holyrood Abbey. Narrow ''List of closes on the Royal Mile, closes'' (alleyways), often no more than a few feet wide, lead steeply downhill to both north and south of the main spine which runs west to east. Significant buildings in the Old Town include St. Giles' Cathedral, the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, the National Museum of Scotland, the Old College, University of Edinburgh, Old College of the University of Edinburgh, P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of in , making it the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, second-most populous city in Scotland and the List of cities in the United Kingdom, seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The Functional urban area, wider metropolitan area had a population of 912,490 in the same year. Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament, the Courts of Scotland, highest courts in Scotland, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, 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 cent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Museum Of Scotland
The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture. It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum (opened in 1866 as the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, renamed in 1904, and for the period between 1985 and the merger named the Royal Museum of Scotland or simply the Royal Museum), with international collections covering science and technology, natural history, and world cultures. The two connected buildings stand beside each other on Chambers Street, by the junction with the George IV Bridge, in central Edinburgh. The museum is part of National Museums Scotland and admission is free. The two buildings retain distinctive characters: the Museum of Scotland is housed in a modern building opened in 1998, while the former Royal Museum building was begun in 1861 and partially opened in 1866, wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Bridge, Edinburgh
North Bridge is a road bridge and street in Edinburgh linking the Royal Mile#High Street, High Street with Princes Street, and the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town with the New Town, Edinburgh, New Town. The current bridge was built between 1894 and 1897. A previous North Bridge, built between 1763 and 1772, stood until 1896. First North Bridge The first stone of the original bridge was laid on 21 October 1763 by the Lord Provost, George Drummond (politician), George Drummond, a driving force behind the modernisation of Edinburgh. In that year, the Nor Loch, North Loch, which separates the New from the Old Town, was drained, and the mud removed. But, though the erection of the bridge was resolved upon at that time, the contract for building the bridge was not signed till 21 August 1765. The parties to this contract were the town council of Edinburgh, and William Mylne, architect, brother to Robert Mylne (architect), Robert Mylne. The sum agreed for was £10,140; the work was to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edinburgh Town Walls
There have been several town walls around Edinburgh, Scotland, since the 12th century. Some form of wall probably existed from the foundation of the royal burgh in around 1125, though the first building is recorded in the mid-15th century, when the King's Wall was constructed. In the 16th century the more extensive Flodden Wall was erected, following the Scots' defeat at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. This was extended by the Telfer Wall in the early 17th century. The walls had a number of gates, known as ports, the most important being the Netherbow Port, which stood halfway down what is now the Royal Mile. This gave access from the Canongate which was, at that time, a separate burgh. The walls never proved very successful as defensive structures, and were easily breached on more than one occasion. They served more as a means of controlling trade and taxing goods, and as a deterrent to smugglers. By the mid 18th century, the walls had outlived both their defensive and trade pu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nor Loch
The Nor Loch, also known as the Nor' Loch and the North Loch, was a man-made loch formerly in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the area now occupied by Princes Street Gardens and Edinburgh Waverley railway station, Waverley station which lie between the Royal Mile and Princes Street. Geological formation The depression, along with the parallel one now occupied by the Cowgate, was formed by glacial erosion during the last glacial period, last Ice Age, when the icepack was forced to divide by the volcanic plug now known as Castle Rock, Edinburgh, Castle Rock. Early history A marsh formed in the hollow and was part of the natural defence of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. In 1460, King James III ordered the hollow to be flooded in order to complete the defences of the town and Edinburgh Castle. The loch was formed by creating an earthen dam to block the progress of the Tummel Burn, a stream that ran along the foot of the north side of the Castle Rock, Edinburgh, ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loch
''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or "inlet, sea inlet" in Scottish Gaelic, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes called a lochan. Lochs which connect to the sea may be called "sea lochs" or "sea loughs". Background This name for a body of water is Insular Celtic languages, Insular CelticThe current form has currency in the following languages: Scottish Gaelic, Irish language, Irish, Manx language, Manx, and has been borrowed into Scots language, Lowland Scots, Scottish English, Irish English and Standard English. in origin and is applied to most lakes in Scotland and to many sea inlets in the west and north of Scotland. Many of the loughs in Northern England have also previously been called "meres" (a Northern English dialect word for "lake", and an archaic Standard English word meaning "a lake that is broad in relation to its depth"), similar to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glacier
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as crevasses and seracs, as it slowly flows and deforms under stresses induced by its weight. As it moves, it abrades rock and debris from its substrate to create landforms such as cirques, moraines, or fjords. Although a glacier may flow into a body of water, it forms only on land“Glacier, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Accessed 25 Jan. 2025. and is distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of bodies of water. On Earth, 99% of glacial ice is contained within vast ice sheets (also known as "continental glaciers") in the polar regions, but glaciers may be found in mountain ranges on ever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crag And Tail
A crag (sometimes spelled cragg, or in Scotland craig) is a rocky hill or mountain, generally isolated from other high ground. Origin Crags are formed when a glacier or ice sheet passes over an area that contains a particularly resistant rock formation (often granite, a volcanic plug or some other volcanic structure). The force of the glacier erodes the surrounding softer material, leaving the rocky block protruding from the surrounding terrain. Frequently the crag serves as a partial shelter to softer material in the wake of the glacier, which remains as a gradual fan or ridge forming a tapered ramp (called the tail) up the leeward side of the crag. In older examples, or those latterly surrounded by the sea, the tail is often missing, having been removed by post-glacial erosion. Examples Examples of crag and tail formations include: * Castle Rock (the crag, site of Edinburgh Castle) and the Royal Mile (the tail), in Edinburgh, Scotland * Salisbury Crags and Arthur's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extinct Volcano
A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the Crust (geology), crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where list of tectonic plates, tectonic plates are divergent boundary, diverging or convergent boundary, converging, and because most of Earth's plate boundaries are underwater, most volcanoes are found underwater. For example, a mid-ocean ridge, such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has volcanoes caused by divergent tectonic plates whereas the Pacific Ring of Fire has volcanoes caused by convergent tectonic plates. Volcanoes resulting from divergent tectonic activity are usually non-explosive whereas those resulting from convergent tectonic activity cause violent eruptions."Mid-ocean ridge tectonics, volcanism and geomorphology." Geology 26, no. 455 (2001): 458. https://macdonald.faculty.geol.ucsb.edu/papers/Macd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castle Rock (Edinburgh)
Castle Rock (, ) is a volcanic plug in the middle of Edinburgh upon which Edinburgh Castle sits. The rock is estimated to have formed some 350 million years ago during the early Carboniferous period. It is the remains of a volcanic pipe which cut through the surrounding sedimentary rock, before cooling to form very hard dolerite, a coarser-grained equivalent of basalt. Subsequent glacial erosion was resisted more by the dolerite, which protected the softer rock to the east, leaving a crag and tail formation. The summit of the castle rock is above sea level, with rocky cliffs to the south, west and north, rearing up to from the surrounding landscape. This means that the only readily accessible route to the castle lies to the east, where the ridge slopes more gently. The defensive advantage of such a site is clear, but the geology of the rock also presents difficulties, since basalt is an extremely poor aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish Parliament Building
The Scottish Parliament Building (; ) is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood, within the World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh. Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 and the Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) held their first debate in the new building on 7 September 2004. The formal opening by Queen Elizabeth II took place on 9 October 2004. Enric Miralles, the Spanish architect who designed the building, died before its completion. From 1999 until the opening of the new building in 2004, committee rooms and the debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament were housed in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland located on The Mound in Edinburgh. Office and administrative accommodation in support of the Parliament were provided in buildings leased from the City of Edinburgh Council. The new Scottish Parliament Building brought together t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
