Page 66 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Scotland

64  SC O TLAND REGION B Y REGION EDINBURGH  65

2 Edinburgh Castle VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

Standing upon the basalt core of an extinct volcano, Practical Information
Edinburgh Castle is an assemblage of buildings dating Castle Hill.
from the 12th to the 20th century, reflecting its changing Tel (0131) 225 9846.
Open Apr–Sep: 9:30am–6pm
role as fortress, royal palace, military garrison and state daily; Oct–Mar: 9:30am–5pm
prison. Though there is evidence of Bronze Age occupation daily (last admission: 45 mins
of the site, the original fortress was built by the 6th-century before closing). & 7 partial.
Northumbrian king, Edwin, from whom the city takes its 8 = 0 -
∑ edinburghcastle.gov.uk
name. The castle was a favourite royal residence until the
Union of the Crowns (see p49) in 1603, after which the king The Honours of Scotland
resided in England. After the Union of Parliaments in 1707, The Crown was restyled by James V Argyle Battery
the Scottish regalia were walled up in the Palace for over a of Scotland in 1540. These battlements offer a panoramic view
hundred years. The Palace is now the zealous possessor north over Princes Street to the city’s New
of the so-called Stone of Destiny, a relic of ancient Town, the Firth of Forth and Fife. . Palace
Scot tish kings which was seized by the English Mary, Queen of Scots,
and not returned to Scotland until 1996. gave birth to James VI
in this 15th-century
palace, where the
Stone of Destiny and
Crown Jewels are
displayed.
Entrance Royal Mile

Governor’s House
Complete with Flemish-style
crow-stepped gables, this
building was con structed for
the governor in 1742 and now
serves as the Officers’ Mess for
the castle garrison.

Mons Meg
Vaults
This French graffiti, dating from 1780, Positioned outside St Margaret’s Chapel, this six-tonne siege
recalls the many prisoners who were gun (or bombard) was made in Belgium in 1449 for the
held in the vaults during the wars with Duke of Burgundy, who gave it to his nephew, James II of
France in the 18th and 19th centuries. Scotland. It was used by James against the Douglas family St Margaret’s
in their stronghold of Threave Castle (see p95) on the Dee Chapel
in 1455, and later by James IV This stained glass
KEY against Norham Castle in window depicts
England. After exploding Malcolm III’s saintly
1 Military Prison during a salute to the queen, to whom the
2 The Half Moon Battery was built Duke of York in 1682, it chapel is dedicated.
in the 1570s as a plat form for the was kept in the Tower of Probably built by her
artillery defending the eastern wing London until it was returned . Great Hall son, David I, in the
of the castle. to Edinburgh in 1829, at Sir With its restored open-timber roof, the hall early 12th century,
3 The Esplanade is the location of Walter Scott’s request. dates from the 15th century and was the the chapel is the
the Military Tattoo (see p85). meeting place of the Scottish Parliament castle’s oldest
until 1639. existing building.
For hotels and restaurants see pp172–3 and pp181–3

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