Portal:Edinburgh
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Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. It 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 506,520 in 2020, making it the second-most-populous city in Scotland (behind Glasgow) 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 was founded in 1582 and is now one of four universities in the city. The financial centre of Scotland, Edinburgh was ranked as the second-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom, the fourth-largest in Europe, and the thirteenth-largest in the world in the Global Financial Centres Index in 2020.
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, St Giles' Cathedral, Greyfriars Kirk, Canongate Kirk and the extensive Georgian New Town built in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Old Town and the New Town are together listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and the site has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. The city's historical and cultural attractions have made it Britain's second-most-visited tourist destination, attracting 5.3 million visits, including 2.4 million from overseas, in 2023. (Full article...)
Selected location article
Ferry Road is one of the major roads of Edinburgh, Scotland, deriving its name from being the road from Queensferry to Leith. It runs from the eastern end of Davidson's Mains village in the west, to Leith in the east, passing through Drylaw, Crewe Toll and Goldenacre on the way. It is classified as the A902 from Leith to Crewe Toll where the A902 continues as Telford Road.
Notable features along the route include, in the west, the former Northern General Hospital's site (now demolished for a supermarket, the Western General Hospital is also nearby), the playing fields of Fettes College, Stewarts Melville and other private schools to the south, a geriatric home of the Salvation Army, Goldenacre stadium etc. Drylaw Police Station is also situated on Ferry Road. Leith public library is located shortly before where Ferry Road meets North Junction Street and Great Junction Street (Full article...)
Selected images
City Observatory, the Gothic Tower
View looking west along George Street
Architecture in Edinburgh
Sir Walter Scott
The BT building in Edinburgh Park
The Princes Street Gardens, the best known park in Edinburgh
Jenners Department Store, the oldest department store in Scotland
The National Monument of Scotland (right) and Nelson Monument (left)
The ruins of Holyrood Abbey
Two Edinburgh Trams seen at the West End - Princes Street stop
The Castle Rock
David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist born in Edinburgh in 1711
The High Street, part of the Royal Mile
Ratho Park Golf Club
Scottish baronial-style turrets on Victorian tenements in St. Mary's Street
St Giles' Cathedral, the principal place of worship of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh
View over Edinburgh
Queensferry Crossing road bridge
The Governor's House
Fountain at Holyrood Palace
The Dean Gallery, part of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Edinburgh Castle
Charlotte Square, a garden square in the New Town
Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland
Edinburgh (from Salisbury Crags) by William Crozier, a painter associated with The Edinburgh School
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Selected transportation article
The Edinburgh Tram Inquiry was a public inquiry, chaired by Lord Hardie, that was held in Edinburgh to establish why the Edinburgh Trams project incurred delays, cost more than originally budgeted and delivered significantly less than was projected. Its report, which was published in September 2023, put much of the blame for the delays and cost overruns on Edinburgh Council and on various arms-length companies employed by the council, singling out Transport Initiatives Edinburgh for particular criticism.
Due to the inquiry's own long delay and mounting costs, it was accused of turning into a "bigger scandal than the one it was set up to look into in the first place". (Full article...)
Selected area article
Slateford (Scottish Gaelic: Àth na Sglèata) is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is east of the Water of Leith.
The former village of Slateford lies on the Lanark Road where it crosses the Water of Leith, 1⁄4 mile (400 m) south west of Slateford Station. The name "Slateford" comes from local rock found in the area and the old fording point on the Water of Leith that the village grew round. In 1882 it had a post office with money order savings bank and telegraph departments, a police station, a Good Templars Hall, School, U.P. Church and the extensive bleachfields of Inglis Green. The village was crossed by the Union Canal Slateford Aqueduct in 1822 and a few years later the 14-arch viaduct carrying the Caledonian railway line. The situe of the Canal, Road and Rail bridges capture all three modes of transport together still to this day. In 1952 and later in 1967 major road widening projects removed all but a few of the original cottages, though Slateford House, School (Now the headquarters and visitor centre for the Water of Leith conservation trust), and Church (used as a warehouse) still stand today. (Full article...)
Selected environment article
The Union Canal, originally called Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal, is a canal in Scotland, running from Falkirk to Edinburgh, constructed to bring minerals, especially coal, to the capital. It was opened in 1822 and was initially successful, but the construction of railways, particularly the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, which opened in 1842, diminished its value as a transport medium. It fell into slow commercial decline and was closed to commercial traffic in 1933. It was officially closed in 1965. The canal is listed as three individual scheduled monuments by Historic Scotland according to the three former counties, Midlothian, West Lothian and Stirlingshire, through which it flows.
It has benefited from a general revival of interest in canals and, as a result of the Millennium Link, was reopened in 2001 and reconnected to the Forth and Clyde Canal in 2002 by the Falkirk Wheel. It is now in popular use for leisure purposes. (Full article...)
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Selected arts article
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He is best known for his four novels and fifty-six short stories about the fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson, which are milestones in crime fiction, and for his first work featuring Professor Challenger, The Lost World (1912), which gave its name to a subgenre of speculative fiction. He was a prolific writer who produced over 200 stories and articles, four volumes of poetry, and a number of works for the stage. He was knighted by King Edward VII in the 1902 Coronation Honours.
Born in Edinburgh, Doyle published his earliest stories whilst studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, and he served as a doctor and surgeon on two sea voyages before establishing an unsuccessful medical practice in Portsmouth. His time at sea inspired the short story "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), which popularised the mystery of the Mary Celeste. His first Sherlock Holmes work, the novel A Study in Scarlet, was published in 1887, and the short story "A Scandal in Bohemia" (1891) was the first of twenty-four monthly Holmes stories published in The Strand Magazine, for which Doyle became one of the most famous and well-paid authors of his time. His ambivalence towards the character led to Holmes's being killed off in "The Final Problem" (1893); but public outcry resulted in his return in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901), and Doyle continued to write stories featuring him up to 1927. He was also known for his humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard. (Full article...)
Selected education article
List of schools in Edinburgh is a list of schools in the City of Edinburgh council area of Scotland. It lists schools both within Edinburgh itself, and in outlying villages within the local government boundary. (Full article...)
Selected sports article
Edinburgh has four football clubs that play in the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL): Heart of Midlothian, founded in 1874, Hibernian, founded in 1875, Edinburgh City F.C., founded in 1966 and Spartans, founded in 1951. Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian are known locally as "Hearts" and "Hibs", respectively. Both play in the Scottish Premiership. They are the oldest city rivals in Scotland and the Edinburgh derby is one of the oldest derby matches in world football. Both clubs have won the Scottish league championship four times. Hearts have won the Scottish Cup eight times and the Scottish League Cup four times. Hibs have won the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup three times each. Edinburgh City were promoted to Scottish League Two in the 2015–16 season, becoming the first club to win promotion to the SPFL via the pyramid system playoffs.
Edinburgh was also home to four other former Scottish Football League clubs: the original Edinburgh City (founded in 1928), Leith Athletic, Meadowbank Thistle and St Bernard's. Meadowbank Thistle played at Meadowbank Stadium until 1995, when the club moved to Livingston and became Livingston F.C. The Scottish national team has very occasionally played at Easter Road and Tynecastle, although its normal home stadium is Hampden Park in Glasgow. St Bernard's New Logie Green was used to host the 1896 Scottish Cup Final, the only time the match has been played outside Glasgow. The city also plays host to Lowland Football League clubs Civil Service Strollers, Edinburgh University and Spartans, as well as East of Scotland League clubs Craigroyston, Edinburgh United, Heriot-Watt University, Leith Athletic, Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale, and Tynecastle. (Full article...)
Selected religion article
The Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh (Latin: Archidioecesis Sancti Andreae et Edimburgensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Scotland. It is the metropolitan see of the province of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, consisting of the additional suffragan sees of Aberdeen, Argyll and the Isles, Dunkeld, and Galloway. The archdiocese is led by Archbishop Leo Cushley, and its cathedral is St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh. (Full article...)
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