The Edinburgh Portal
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Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags, part of Holyrood Park. -
Old town Skyline. -
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View across Calton Hill monuments to Firth of Forth and Fife beyond. -
Edinburgh panorama from Calton Hill, early evening . -
Edinburgh castle and Balmoral Hotel clock tower at night.
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Edinburgh (/ˈɛdɪnbərə/ ED-in-bər-ə, Scots: [ˈɛdɪnbʌrə]; Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann [t̪un ˈeːtʲən̪ˠ]) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth estuary and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in mid-2020, making it the second-most populous city in Scotland and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The 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 highest courts in Scotland, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the 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 centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scottish law, literature, philosophy, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of three in the city, is considered one of the best research institutions in the world. It is the second-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom, the fourth largest in Europe, and the thirteenth largest internationally.
The city is a cultural centre, and is the home of institutions including the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery. The city is also known for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe, the latter being the world's largest annual international arts festival. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, and the extensive Georgian New Town built in the 18th/19th centuries. Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. The city's historical and cultural attractions have made it the UK's second-most visited tourist destination, attracting 4.9 million visits, including 2.4 million from overseas in 2018. (Full article...)
Selected location article
The Political Martyrs Monument, located in the Old Calton Burial Ground on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, commemorates five political reformists from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Designed by Thomas Hamilton and erected in 1844, it is a 90 ft (27 m) tall obelisk on a square-plan base plinth, all constructed in ashlar sandstone blocks. As part of the Burial Ground it is Category A listed. (Full article...)
Selected images
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View looking west along George Street -
City Observatory, the Gothic Tower -
Jenners Department Store, the oldest department store in Scotland -
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The Princes Street Gardens, the best known park in Edinburgh -
The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Edinburgh Castle -
The BT building in Edinburgh Park -
Fountain at Holyrood Palace -
View over Edinburgh -
Sir Walter Scott -
The High Street, part of the Royal Mile -
David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist born in Edinburgh in 1711 -
Queensferry Crossing road bridge -
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The Governor's House -
Charlotte Square, a garden square in the New Town -
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Edinburgh (from Salisbury Crags) by William Crozier, a painter associated with The Edinburgh School -
Scottish baronial-style turrets on Victorian tenements in St. Mary's Street -
Architecture in Edinburgh -
The National Monument of Scotland (right) and Nelson Monument (left) -
The Castle Rock -
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The ruins of Holyrood Abbey -
St Giles' Cathedral, the principal place of worship of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh -
Two Edinburgh Trams seen at the West End - Princes Street stop -
Ratho Park Golf Club -
The Dean Gallery, part of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art -
Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland -
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Selected transportation article
Selected area article
Craigentinny is a suburb in the north-east of Edinburgh, Scotland, east of Restalrig and close to Portobello.
Its name may be a corruption of the Gaelic Creag an t-Sionnaich, meaning "the fox's rock". (Full article...)
Selected environment article
Arthur's Seat (Scottish Gaelic: Suidhe Artair, pronounced [ˈs̪ɯi.əˈaɾt̪ʰəɾʲ]) is an ancient extinct volcano that is the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland, which form most of Holyrood Park, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design". It is situated just to the east of the city centre, about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of Edinburgh Castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 250.5 m (822 ft), provides excellent panoramic views of the city and beyond, is relatively easy to climb, and is popular for hillwalking. Though it can be climbed from almost any direction, the easiest ascent is from the east, where a grassy slope rises above Dunsapie Loch. At a spur of the hill, Salisbury Crags has historically been a rock climbing venue with routes of various degrees of difficulty. Rock climbing was restricted to the South Quarry, but access was banned altogether in 2019 by Historic Environment Scotland. (Full article...)
Did you know?
- ... that East Suffolk Park, a former student hostel in Edinburgh, was once an internment camp for enemy aliens?
- ... that Prince Philip was the first member of the British royal family to fly in a helicopter?
- ... that a lane behind a tenement in Edinburgh is decorated as a Wild West town?
Selected arts article
St Mary's Music School is a music school in Scotland in the West End of Edinburgh, for children aged 9 to 19 and is also the Choir School of St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral. The school, which is non-denominational, provides education for children with a special talent in music, and is Scotland's only full-time independent specialist music school. In 2023 the school has 64 pupils from many different backgrounds and from all parts of Scotland, the rest of the UK and abroad – (Full article...)
Selected education article
Edinburgh Napier University (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Napier Dhùn Èideann) is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napier. The technical college was inaugurated as a university in 1992 by Lord Douglas-Hamilton, becoming Napier University. In 2009, the university was renamed Edinburgh Napier University.
The university is based around its three main Edinburgh campuses: Merchiston, Craiglockhart, and Sighthill. It has over 21,000 students, including those on-campus in Scotland and others studying transnational programmes abroad and online. In 2018 this included nearly 9,500 international and EU students, from more than 140 nations worldwide. (Full article...)
Selected sports article
Hibernian Football Club (/hɪˈbɜːrniən/), commonly known as Hibs, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football. The club was founded in 1875 by members of Edinburgh's Irish community, and the name is derived from the Latin for Ireland. The Irish heritage of Hibernian is reflected in the name, colours and badge of the club. The green main shirt colour is usually accompanied by white sleeves and shorts. Their local rivals are Heart of Midlothian, with whom they contest the Edinburgh derby.
Home matches are played at Easter Road, which has been in use since 1893, when the club joined the Scottish Football League. The name of the club is regularly shortened to Hibs, with the team also being known as The Hibees (pronounced /ˈhaɪbiːz/) and supporters known as Hibbies. Another nickname is The Cabbage, derived from the shortened rhyming slang for Hibs ("Cabbage and Ribs"). (Full article...)
Selected religion article
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, also known as St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic church in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh and the mother church of Scots Catholicism. The cathedral church is located at the East End of New Town in the city center. (Full article...)
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