Edinburgh
;
Dùn Èideann () in
Scottish Gaelic) is
Scotland's
capital and its second largest
city, after Glasgow.
It is situated on the east coast of Scotland's
central lowlands on the south shore of the
Firth of Forth and in the
City of Edinburgh council area. It has been the capital of Scotland since 1437 and is the seat of the country's
devolved government. The city was one of the centres of the
enlightenment (see
Scottish Enlightenment), led by the
University of Edinburgh. The
Old Town and
New Town districts of Edinburgh were listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. In the
census of 2001, Edinburgh had a total resident population of 448,624.
Edinburgh is well-known for the annual
Edinburgh Festival, actually a collection of independent festivals held annually over about three weeks from early August, when the population of the city doubles. The most famous of these events are the
Edinburgh Fringe (the largest performing arts festival in the world), the
Edinburgh International Festival, and the
Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Another famous event is the
Hogmanay street party.
The city is one of
Europe's major
tourist destinations, attracting roughly 13 million visitors a year, and is the second most visited tourist destination in the
United Kingdom, after
London.
The origin of the city's name is understood to come from the
Brythonic Din Eidyn (Fort of Eidyn) from the time when it was a
Gododdin hillfort.
In the 1st century the
Romans recorded the
Votadini as a
Brythonic tribe in the area, and about 600 the poem
Y Gododdin, using the Brythonic form of that name, describes warriors feasting "in Eidin's great hall".
After it was besieged by the
Bernician
Angles the name changed to
Edin-burh, which some have argued derives from the Anglo-Saxon for "Edwin's fort", possibly derived from the 7th century king
Edwin of Northumbria. However, since the name apparently predates King Edwin, this is highly unlikely. The
burgh element means "fortress" or "group of buildings", i.e. a town or city and is akin to the
German burg,
Latin parcus,
Greek pyrgos etc.
The first evidence of the existence of the town as a separate entity from the fort lies in an early 12th century
royal charter, generally thought to date from 1124, by
King David I granting land to the
Church of the Holy Rood of Edinburgh. This suggests that the town came into official existence between 1018 (when
King Malcolm II secured the
Lothians from the Northumbrians) and 1124.
|
Edinburgh is clearly labeled on this T and O map from ca. 1300. (North lies roughly in the direction of the upper left corner.) |
The charter refers to the recipients (
in Latin) as "Ecclisie Sancte Crucis
Edwinesburgensi". This could mean that those who drafted the charter believed Edwin to be the original source of the name and decided to derive the Latinisation from what they believed to be the ancient name. It could also mean that at some point in the preceding 600 years the name had altered to include a
w. If the latter scenario was the case then it was soon to change; by the 1170s
King William the Lion was using the name
"Edenesburch" in a charter (again in Latin) confirming the 1124 grant of David I.
Documents from the 14th century show the name to have settled into its current form; although other spellings ("Edynburgh" and "Edynburghe") appear, these are simply spelling variants of the current name.
|
View over Edinburgh from the castle |
The city is affectionately nicknamed
Auld Reekie,
Scots for
Old Smoky. This is because when the only fuel available was
coal or wood all the chimneys would spew lots of smoke into the air. Auld Reekie also referred to the less than sanitary living conditions that would lead to a strong odour covering the city. "Reek" means "smell" in modern Edinburgh.
Some have called Edinburgh the
Athens of the North for a variety of reasons. The earliest comparison between the two cities showed that they had a similar topography, with the Old Town of Edinburgh performing a similar role to the
Athenian Acropolis. Both of them had flatter, fertile agricultural land sloping down to a
port several miles away (respectively
Leith and
Piraeus). Although this arrangement is common in
Southern Europe, it is rare in
Northern Europe. The 18th century intellectual life, referred to as the
Scottish Enlightenment, was a key influence in gaining the name. Such beacons as
David Hume and
Adam Smith shone during this period. Having lost most of its political importance after the
Union, some hoped that Edinburgh could gain a similar civilising influence on London as Athens had on Rome. Also a contributing factor was the later
neoclassical architecture, particularly that of
William Henry Playfair, and the
National Monument.
Tom Stoppard's character Archie, of
Jumpers, has said, facetiously, that the "
Reykjavík of the South" would be more appropriate!
[Stoppard, Tom. Jumpers, Grove Press, 1972, p. 69.]Edinburgh has also been known as
Dunedin, deriving from the
Scottish Gaelic,
Dùn Èideann.
Dunedin, New Zealand, was originally called "New Edinburgh" and is still nicknamed the "Edinburgh of the South".
The Scots poets
Robert Burns and
Robert Fergusson sometimes used the city's Latin name,
Edina, in their work.
Ben Johnson described it as
Britaine's other eye, and
Sir Walter Scott referred to the city as
yon Empress of the North.
Some Scots-speakers refer to the city informally as
Edinburrie or
Embra.
Geography
Some 320 million years ago, the cores of several
volcanic vents in the area cooled and solidified to form tough
basalt volcanic plugs, then, during the
last ice age,
glaciers eroded the area, exposing the plug as a rocky
crag to the west, and leaving a tail of material swept to the east. At the same time, the glacier gouged out ground to each side, leaving the ravine of the
Grassmarket and
Cowgate to the south, and the swampy valley of the
Nor Loch to the north. The resulting
crag and tail landform now forms the
Castle Rock, and the narrow steep sided ridge which the
Royal Mile follows. The ridge declines in height over a mile, meeting general ground level at
Holyrood.
This formed a natural
fortress, and recent excavations at the castle (described in
Excavations within Edinburgh Castle by Stephen T. Driscoll & Peter Yeoman,
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Monograph Series no.12 1997) found material dating back to the
Late Bronze Age, as long ago as 850 BCE.
The map co-ordinates of the centre of Edinburgh are approximately .
Areas of the Centre
The historic centre of Edinburgh is divided into two by the broad green swath of
Princes Street Gardens. To the south the view is dominated by
Edinburgh Castle, perched atop the extinct volcanic crag, and the long sweep of the
Old Town trailing after it along the ridge. To the north lies
Princes Street and the
New Town. The gardens were begun in 1816 on
bogland which had once been the Nor Loch.
To the immediate west of the castle lies the financial district, housing insurance and banking buildings. Probably the most eyecatching building is the huge circular sandstone building that is the
Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
Old Town
The Old Town has preserved its
medieval plan and many
Reformation-era buildings. One end is closed by the castle and the main artery, the
Royal Mile, leads away from it; minor streets (called
closes or
wynds) lead downhill on either side of the main spine in a herringbone pattern. Large squares mark the location of markets or surround major public buildings such as
St Giles Cathedral and the
Law Courts.
Other notable places of interest nearby include the
Royal Museum of Scotland,
Surgeons' Hall, the
University of Edinburgh, and numerous underground streets and vaults, relics of previous phases of construction. The street layout, typical of the old quarters of many northern European cities, is made especially picturesque in Edinburgh, where the castle perches on top of a rocky crag, the remnants of a dormant volcano, and the main street runs down the crest of a ridge from it.
Due to the space restrictions imposed by the narrowness of the "tail" the Old Town became home to some of the earliest "high rise" residential buildings. Multi-storey dwellings were the norm from the 1500s onwards.
New Town
The New Town was an 18th century solution to the problem of an increasingly crowded Old Town. The city had remained incredibly compact, confined to the ridge running down from the castle. In 1766 a competition to design the New Town was won by
James Craig, a 22-year-old architect. The plan that was built created a rigid, ordered grid, which fitted well with
enlightenment ideas of rationality. The principal street was to be
George Street, which follows the natural ridge to the north of the Old Town. Either side of it are the other main streets of
Princes Street and
Queen Street. Princes Street has since become the main shopping street in Edinburgh, and few
Georgian buildings survive on it. Linking these streets were a series of perpendicular streets. At the east and west ends are
St. Andrew's Square and
Charlotte Square respectively. The latter was designed by
Robert Adam and is often considered one of the finest Georgian squares in the world.
Bute House, the official residence of the
First Minister of Scotland, is on the north side of Charlotte Square.
Sitting in the
glen between the Old and New Towns was the Nor' Loch, which had been both the city's water supply and place for dumping
sewage. By the 1820s it was drained. Some plans show that a
canal was intended, but the
Princes Street Gardens were created instead. Excess soil from the construction of the buildings was dumped into the
loch, creating what is now
The Mound. In the mid-19th century the
National Gallery of Scotland and
Royal Scottish Academy Building were built on The Mound, and tunnels to
Waverley Station driven through it.
The New Town was so successful that it was extended greatly. The grid pattern was not maintained, but rather a more picturesque layout was created. Today the New Town is considered by many to be one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture and planning in the world.
Leith is the port of Edinburgh. It still retains a separate identity from Edinburgh, and it was a matter of great resentment when in 1920 Leith was merged into Edinburgh. Even today the parliamentary seat is known as 'Edinburgh North
and Leith'. With the redevelopment of Leith, Edinburgh has gained the business of a number of
cruise liner companies who now provide cruises to
Norway,
Sweden,
Denmark,
Germany and the
Netherlands. Leith also boasts the
Royal Yacht Britannia, berthed behind the
Ocean Terminal shopping centre.
See also:
Granton,
NewhavenThe varied
topography of the city includes several summits which command sweeping views over Edinburgh.
To the southeast of central Edinburgh stands the eminence known as
Arthur's Seat, overlooking
Holyroodhouse and the Old Town beside it. The crag is a collection of side vents of the main volcano on which Edinburgh is built. The volcano slipped and tipped sideways, leaving these vents as the highest points for miles around. Arthur's Seat is now part of
Holyrood Park, originally owned by the monarch and part of the grounds of the
Palace of Holyroodhouse. It contains the UK's largest concentration of
geological SSSIs, as well as providing the people of Edinburgh with spectacular views of and from Arthur's Seat and somewhere to relax after a long day in the city.
To the northeast, overlooking the New Town, is
Calton Hill. It is topped by an assortment of buildings and monuments: two
observatories,
Nelson's Monument (a tower dedicated to Admiral
Horatio Nelson), the old
Royal High School (once almost the home of a devolved
Scottish Assembly), and the unfinished
National Monument, which is modelled on the
Parthenon from the Athenian
Acropolis and is nicknamed "Edinburgh's Disgrace". The nickname of the city, "Athens of the North", also hails partly from this monument. Calton Hill plays host to the
Beltane Fire Festival on
May 1.
The
Royal Observatory rests on
Blackford Hill, the third and Southernmost viewpoint of the city.
Like much of the rest of Scotland, Edinburgh has a
temperate maritime climate, which is relatively mild despite its northerly
latitude. Winters are especially mild given that
Moscow and
Labrador in
Newfoundland lie on the same latitude, with daytime temperatures rarely falling below freezing, or 0C (32F). Summer temperatures are comparatively cool, with daily upper maxima rarely exceeding 23C (73F). The proximity of the city to the sea mitigates any large variations in temperature or extremes of climate. Given Edinburgh's position between the coast and hills it is renowned as a
windy city, with the prevailing wind direction coming from the south-west which is associated with warm, unstable air from the
Gulf Stream that gives rise to rainfall. Winds from an easterly direction are usually drier but colder. Rainfall is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. Vigorous Atlantic depressions - sometimes called
European windstorms can affect the city between October and March.
Climate Table | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|
| Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) | 6.2 | 6.5 | 8.7 | 11.1 | 14.2 | 17.3 | 18.8 | 18.5 | 16.2 | 13.2 | 8.1 | 6.9 | 12.1 |
|---|
| Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 5.7 | 8.7 | 10.3 | 10.2 | 8.4 | 5.9 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 4.8 |
|---|
| Mean total rainfall (mm) | 57 | 42 | 51 | 41 | 51 | 51 | 57 | 65 | 67 | 65 | 63 | 58 | 668 |
|---|
| Mean number of rain days | 17.2 | 13.6 | 16.2 | 14.0 | 14.4 | 13.3 | 13.1 | 15.2 | 16.5 | 16.7 | 16.3 | 16.3 | 182.8 |
|---|
| Source: World Meterological Organization |
Edinburgh Festivals
Culturally, Edinburgh is best known for the
Edinburgh Festival, although this is in fact a series of separate events, which run from the end of July until early September each year. The longest established festival is the
Edinburgh International Festival, which first ran in 1947. The International Festival centres on a programme of high-profile theatre productions and classical music performances, featuring international directors, conductors, theatre companies and orchestras.
The International Festival has since been taken over in both size and popularity by the
Edinburgh Fringe. What began as a programme of marginal acts has become the largest arts festival in the world, with over 1800 shows being staged in 2005, in 247 venues. Comedy is now one of the mainstays of the Fringe, with numerous notable comedians getting their 'break' here, often through receipt of the
Perrier Award.
Alongside these major festivals, there is also the
Edinburgh International Film Festival, the
Edinburgh Jazz Festival, and the
Edinburgh International Book Festival.
T on the Fringe, a popular music offshoot of the Fringe, began in 2000, replacing the smaller Flux and Planet Pop series of shows. Tigerfest is an independent music festival which ran concurrently with the Fringe in 2004 and 2005 before moving to a May slot in 2006.
Running concurrently with the festivals, the
Edinburgh Military Tattoo occupies the Castle Esplanade every night, with massed
pipers and fireworks.
Celebrations
Equally famous is the annual
Hogmanay celebration. Originally simply a street party held on
Princes Street and the
Royal Mile, the Hogmanay event has been officially organised since 1993. In 1996, over 300,000 people attended, leading to ticketing of the main street party in later years, with a limit of 100,000 tickets. Hogmanay now covers four days of processions, concerts and fireworks, and the event regularly attracts a lot of people.
On the night of the 30th April, the
Beltane Fire Festival takes place on Edinburgh's
Calton Hill. The festival involves a procession followed by the re-enactment of scenes inspired by
pagan spring fertility celebrations.
Music, Theatre and Film
Outside the festival season Edinburgh supports a number of theatres and production companies. The
Royal Lyceum Theatre has its own company, while the
King's Theatre,
Edinburgh Festival Theatre, and
Edinburgh Playhouse stage large touring shows. The
Traverse Theatre presents a more contemporary programme of plays. Small student and amateur productions are staged at the
Bedlam Theatre,
Church Hill Theatre, and the
Brunton Theatre in
Musselburgh.
The
Usher Hall is Edinburgh's principal venue for classical music and occasional popular music gigs. Other halls staging music and theatre include
The Hub, the
Assembly Rooms and the
Queen's Hall, the Edinburgh home of the
Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Edinburgh has two
repertory cinemas, the
Edinburgh Filmhouse and the
Cameo, as well as the usual range of
multiplexes.
Visual arts
Edinburgh is home to Scotland's
National Galleries. The national collection is housed in the
Scottish National Gallery, located on the Mound, and now linked to the
Royal Scottish Academy, which holds regular major exhibitions of painting. The contemporary collections are shown in the
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, and the nearby
Dean Gallery. The
Scottish National Portrait Gallery focuses on portraits and photography.
The city council-owned
City Arts Centre shows regular art exhibitions. Across the road, the
Fruitmarket Gallery offers touring exhibitions of contemorary art.
Letters
Edinburgh has a long literary tradition, going back to the
Scottish Enlightenment. Writers such as
James Boswell,
Robert Louis Stevenson and
Walter Scott all lived and worked in Edinburgh. More recently, Edinburgh has become associated with the crime novels of
Ian Rankin.
Edinburgh's Enlightenment also produced philosopher
David Hume and the pioneer of economics,
Adam Smith. Further scientific and philosophical enquiry was discussed at
The Poker Club in the city.
Edinburgh has two professional
football clubs:
Hibernian and
Heart of Midlothian. They are known locally as Hibs (or the Hibees) and Hearts (or the Jambos). Both teams play in the
Scottish Premier League: Hibernian at
Easter Road Stadium near Leith and Hearts at
Tynecastle Stadium in
Gorgie. There are a few other reputable non-league sides such as
Spartans and
Edinburgh City. Edinburgh also formerly was home to
Meadowbank Thistle, although they moved to nearby
Livingston in 1995, shedding their old name. Although Edinburgh is Scotland's capital, the
Scottish national team usually play at
Hampden Park, in
Glasgow, Scotland's largest city.
Scotland's national rugby team's base is
Murrayfield Stadium.
Rugby union internationals and "home internationals" (i.e. Scotland,
England,
Ireland and
Wales) are played at Murrayfield, owned by the
Scottish Rugby Union. (Murrayfield is also used as a venue for other events, including music concerts.) Edinburgh's professional rugby team, the
Edinburgh Gunners, play in the
Celtic League at Murrayfield.
The
Scottish cricket team represent Scotland at
cricket internationally and in the
C&G Trophy and play their home matches at
The Grange in
Stockbridge.
The
Edinburgh Capitals are the latest of a succession of
ice hockey clubs to represent the Scottish capital. Previously Edinburgh was represented by the
Murrayfield Racers and the
Edinburgh Racers. The club play their home games at the
Murrayfield Ice Rink and are currently the sole Scottish representative in the
Elite Ice Hockey League.
Edinburgh has also hosted various national and international sports events including the
World Student Games, the
1970 British Commonwealth Games, the
1986 Commonwealth Games and the inaugural
2000 Commonwealth Youth Games. For the Games in 1970 the city built major
Olympic standard venues and facilities including the
Royal Commonwealth Pool and the
Meadowbank Stadium.
The
Scottish Claymores played
American football from 1995 - 2004, with some matches taking place at Murrayfield, others in Glasgow at Hampden.
The
Edinburgh Marathon has been held in the city since 2003 with over 13,000 taking part annually.
As of 2005, the
General Register Office for Scotland estimated that the
City of Edinburgh had a resident population of 448,830
[General Register Office for Scotland, 2006 Mid Year Population Estimates, 2006], an increase from 448,624 as reported by the
2001 UK census. The General Register Office also reported that this resident population was split between 220,094 males and 228,736 females.
Whilst Edinburgh's population is ageing a large and transient population of young students studying at the universities in the city offset this
demographic problem somewhat. There are estimated to be around 90,000 students studying at the various Higher Education institutions in the city
[Prospects - UK Graduate Careers, 2006 Napier University - Edinburgh Life]. Edinburgh also has one of the highest-educated populations in Europe.
The economy of Edinburgh is largely based around the services sector centred around
banking, financial services and
tourism.
Unemployment in Edinburgh is low at 2.2%, which has been consistently below the
Scottish average
[Scottish Enterprise, 2006 Edinburgh and Lothian Industrial Overview]. The city is one of the most prosperous parts of the country.
Banking has been a part of the economic life of Edinburgh for over 300 years, with the establishment of the
Bank of Scotland by an act of the original
Parliament of Scotland in
1695. Today, together with the burgeoning financial services industry, with particular strengths in
insurance and
investment underpinned by the presence Edinburgh based firms such as
Scottish Widows and
Standard Life, Edinburgh has emerged as one of Europe's largest financial centres. The
Royal Bank of Scotland, which is the fifth largest in the world by
market capitalisation, opened their new global headquarters at
Gogarburn in the west of the city in October
2005.
Manufacturing has never had as strong a presence in Edinburgh as it has in
Glasgow, however
brewing,
publishing, and nowadays
electronics have maintained a foothold in the city. Whilst brewing has been in decline in recent years, with the closure of the
McEwan's Brewery in 2005,
Caledonian Brewery remains as the largest, with
Scottish and Newcastle retaining their headquarters in the city.
Tourism is an important economic mainstay in the city. As a
World Heritage Site tourists come to visit such historical sites as
Edinburgh Castle, the
Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Georgian
New Town . This is augmented in August of each year with the presence of the
Edinburgh Festivals, which bring in large numbers of visitors, generating in excess of £100m for the Edinburgh economy
[Edinburgh Fringe Festival Press Release, 2004 [1] 2004 Festival Economic Impact Study results14 Oct 2005].
As the centre of Scotland's devolved government, as well as its
legal system, the public sector plays a central role in the economy of Edinburgh with many departments of the
Scottish Executive located in the city. Other major employers include
NHS Scotland and
local government administration.
Edinburgh is a centre of national as well as local government. The national
unicameral legislature of
Scotland - the
Scottish Parliament is located in the
Holyrood area of the city, with the new
Scottish Parliament Building opening in September
2004. A number of key government buildings are to be found within the city, with the
devolved government of Scotland - the
Scottish Executive having offices at
St Andrew's House on
Calton Hill in the city centre, and
Victoria Quay in
Leith.
Bute House on
Charlotte Square is also the official residence of the
First Minister of Scotland.
The city has hosted a number of international events, such as
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the
Council of Europe. Nominally there are three tiers of government administering Edinburgh - the city council, the Scottish Parliament and the
UK Parliament.
Local Government
On a local level Edinburgh constitutes one of the 32 Scottish
council areas, and as such is governed by the
Edinburgh City Council, a local authority composed of 58 elected councillors each representing an
electoral ward in the city. The current
Lord Provost of Edinburgh is
Cllr Lesley Hinds, who replaced Cllr
Eric Milligan on May 8,
2003. In Scotland the
Lord Provost fulfils many similar roles to that of a
Mayor in some other countries.
Elections to the City Council are held every 4 years. The next elections will take place in May
2007. The council is composed of 58 elected members with the administration being run by the
Labour Party for a number of years now. Of the 58 elected councillors in Edinburgh, 30 members of the council, including the Lord Provost and current Majority Leader of the Council
Donald Anderson, are from the
Labour Party. There are 14 councillors from the Scottish
Liberal Democrats, 13 from the
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and one member from the
Scottish National Party.
Scottish Parliament
Elections to the
Scottish Parliament are conducted under the
additional member system of
proportional representation, and as such Edinburgh returns six
MSPs from the
single member constituencies of
Edinburgh North and Leith,
Edinburgh Central,
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh,
Edinburgh Pentlands,
Edinburgh South and
Edinburgh West. It dominates the
Lothians parliamentary area, which returns a further seven MSPs, under the additional member system.
UK Parliament
In the
House of Commons, it is represented by the five constituencies of
Edinburgh South,
Edinburgh West,
Edinburgh South West,
Edinburgh North and Leith, and
Edinburgh East, with members elected under the
first past the post system.
Edinburgh is a major transport hub in east central
Scotland, and is the focus for many arterial road and rail routes that connect the city to the rest of Scotland and with
England.
Most passenger transport trips in Edinburgh are taken by
bus, with
Lothian Buses and
First Bus operating an extensive system connecting most parts of the city, suburbs and surrounding
city region. There are plans for a
light rapid transit system of trams
Edinburgh Tram Network that will connect the airport and western suburbs with the city centre. Another loop will connect the city centre and the northern waterfront areas of
Leith and
Granton -- areas which are currently undergoing regeneration and redevelopment.
Edinburgh Waverley is the main railway station for the city. It is on the
East Coast Main Line and is a through station as well as a terminus for many services to and from
London Kings Cross operated by
GNER and
Virgin Trains, as well as services from within Scotland operated by
First Scotrail.
Haymarket Station is a smaller station located to the west of the city centre.
Edinburgh is served by
Edinburgh Airport (EDI), located approximately 8 miles to the west of the city, with connections to many cities in Europe and an expanding international long-haul route network. Construction of a rail link to the airport is due to commence in
2010 and be operational by
2012 [Edinburgh Airport Rail Link Project Background to the project]. The airport will also be served by the
Edinburgh Tram Network.
Traffic congestion, especially at peak times, is viewed as a problem. The rise in car use in the city caused commuting trips to grow by 52% in Edinburgh between
1981 and
2001 [BBC Scotland News, February 2006 City traffic congestion warning]. Various initiatives have been put in place to combat this, with
park and ride facilities provided at Ingliston on the western outskirts of the city, as well as in
Fife. "Greenways", dedicated
bus lanes on primary routes into the city centre with strict traffic regulations, have been initiated in recent years. Improvements to the bus network have included
guided busways in the west of the city and major improvements to bus services, such as clearer ticketing arrangements and better provision of bus stops.
Universities and Colleges
The
University of Edinburgh was founded by Royal Charter in 1583, and is the fourth oldest
university in Scotland, after
St Andrews,
Glasgow and
Aberdeen. The
Old College on
South Bridge opened in the 1820s. As the institution continued to expand, new buildings were constructed around George Square, where the heart of the university remains. Development of the college's buildings continues in the 21st century. The
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh were also established by Royal Charter, in 1506 and 1681 respectively. The Trustees Drawing Academy of Edinburgh was established in 1760, an institution that became, in 1907,
Edinburgh College of Art.
In the 1960s
Heriot-Watt University and Napier Technical College were established. Heriot-Watt traces its origins to 1821, when a school for technical education of the
working classes was opened. Heriot-Watt continues to have a strong reputation in
engineering, and is based at
Riccarton, in the west of the city.
Napier College was renamed Napier Polytechnic in the 1980s, and gained university status in its own right in 1992; the mass conversion of other
polytechnic higher education establishments only began several months later in the same year.
Napier University now has several campuses in the south and west of the city, including the former
Craiglockhart Hydropathic and Merchiston Tower. The University contains a number of highly specialised research centres (in timber engineering and teledemocracy, for example) and has the second largest
business school in Scotland, after Strathclyde University in Glasgow. The School of Computing at Napier University is one of the largest computing departments in Scotland.
Queen Margaret University College was founded in 1875 as a women's college, and today specialises in healthcare, media, hospitality and business.
Other colleges offering further education in Edinburgh include
Telford College, opened in 1968, and
Stevenson College, opened in 1970.
Basil Paterson offers courses in languages and teaching. The
Scottish Agricultural College also has a campus in south Edinburgh.
Schools
Notable schools in Edinburgh include the
Royal High School, (a state run school) considered to be the oldest in Scotland, and
Donaldson's College, for deaf students. Private schools include
Edinburgh Academy,
Fettes College,
George Heriot's School,
George Watson's College, the
Mary Erskine School,
Merchiston Castle School and
Stewart's Melville College.
Hospitals
Notable hospitals in Edinburgh include the
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, which includes
Edinburgh University Medical School, and the
Western General Hospital, which includes a large cancer treatment centre. There is one private hospital,
BUPA's
Murrayfield Hospital.
Churches
Edinburgh has a large number of churches of many different
denominations. As well as their religious significance, many of the city's church buildings are of considerable architectural and historic interest.
The
national Church of Scotland is numerically the largest denomination in Edinburgh; notable historic church buildings in the city centre include
St Giles' Cathedral,
Greyfriars Kirk,
Canongate Kirk and
St Andrew's and St George's Church. On the city's south east can be found the 12th century
Duddingston Kirk. The
Church of Scotland Offices are located in Edinburgh, as is the Church's
Assembly Hall (used as the home of the
Scottish Parliament 1999-2004) and
New College on The Mound.
The second-largest church in Edinburgh (in terms of membership) is the
Catholic Church. Notable buildings include
St Mary's Cathedral at the top of
Leith Walk.
The
Scottish Episcopal Church is part of the
Anglican Communion. Its largest Edinburgh church is
St Mary's Cathedral in Palmerston Place.
Mosque
Edinburgh's main
mosque and Islamic Centre is located on Potterow on the city's southside, near Bristo Square. It was opened in the late 1990s. Construction was partly financed by a gift from
King Fahd of
Saudi Arabia[ Edinburgh Islamic Centre [2] Financing the project].
Synagogue
The first recorded presence of a
Jewish community in Edinburgh dates back to the late 17th century. Edinburgh's
Orthodox synagogue is located in Salisbury Road. The present building was opened in 1932 and can accommodate 2000 people. A
Liberal congregation also meets in the City.
Many famous people in the past and present have been born in Edinburgh, resident in the city or connected to it in some way, these include:
*
Alexander Graham Bell, telephone pioneer, was born in Edinburgh.
*
Tony Blair,
UK Prime Minister, was born in the city and attended its exclusive
Fettes College high school
*
James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist
*
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of
Sherlock Holmes, was born in the city's New Town
*
Sir Sean Connery, actor
*
David Hume, philosopher and historian
*
James Hutton,
geologist, regarded as the "Father of
Geology"
*
Shirley Manson, lead singer for the band
Garbage*
John Napier, mathematician, mainly remembered for the invention of
logarithms*
Max Born, Physicist and Nobel Laureate
*
Ian Rankin, author of the
Inspector Rebus series of crime thrillers, attended the
University of Edinburgh*
J. K. Rowling,
Harry Potter author, wrote her first book in Edinburgh
coffee-shop, Nicolson's
.
* Sir Walter Scott, (1771-1832), novelist, was born in Edinburgh.
* Adam Smith, economist, author of The Wealth of Nations
* Muriel Spark, novelist, author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie''
*
Robert Louis Stevenson, novelist
*
John Witherspoon, only clergyman to sign the
American Declaration of Independence, president of
Princeton University, educated in Edinburgh
* Professor
Ian Wilmut, involved in the creation of
Dolly the Sheep – the first
cloned mammal*
James Young Simpson, an
obstetrician who conducted the first experimental use of
chloroform for
anaesthesia*
James Connolly, an Irish-Scots socialist leader.
Edinburgh is
twinned with several cities across Europe and throughout the rest of the world. These include:{| valign="top" |
*
Munich,
Germany*
Florence,
Italy*
Nice,
France*
Vancouver,
Canada*
Kyiv,
Ukraine
* Aalborg, Denmark
* San Diego, U.S.
* Dunedin, New Zealand
* Kraków, Poland
* Xi'an, China | 
