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...)

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Arthur's Seat is located within Holyrood Park

Holyrood Park (the official name since at least the 1950s, as outlined in the ‘Holyrood Park Regulations 1959’ but also colloquially called the King's Park or Queen's Park depending on the reigning monarch's gender) is a public park in central Edinburgh, Scotland about 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) to the east of Edinburgh Castle. It has an array of hills, lochs, glens, ridges, basalt cliffs, and patches of gorse, providing a wild piece of highland landscape within its 650-acre (260 ha) area. The park is associated with the Palace of Holyroodhouse and was formerly a royal hunting estate. The park was created in 1541 when James V had the ground "circulit about Arthurs Sett, Salisborie and Duddingston craggis" enclosed by a stone wall.

Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano and the highest point in Edinburgh, is at the centre of the park, with the cliffs of Salisbury Crags to the west. There are three lochs: St Margaret's Loch, Dunsapie Loch, and Duddingston Loch. The ruins of St Anthony's Chapel stand above St Margaret's Loch. Queen's Drive is the main route for motor traffic through the Park. St Margaret's Well and St Anthony's Well are both natural springs within the park. Holyrood Park is located to the south-east of the Old Town, at the edge of the city centre. Abbeyhill is to the north, and Duddingston village to the east. The University of Edinburgh's Pollock Halls of Residence are to the south-west, and Dumbiedykes is to the west. (Full article...)

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As of 2023, 38% of households in Edinburgh own one or more bike (compared to 35% for the whole of Scotland), with 5% of journeys of two miles or less being made by bike (less than 1% for the whole of Scotland).

At present there are around 75 km of off-road cycleways in the Edinburgh area, with a similar length of on-road cycleways in the city. Greenways, which are the car-free bus corridors on the main radial routes into the city centre double up as cycle lanes. (Full article...)

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Gilmerton Post Office

Gilmerton is a village and suburb of Edinburgh, about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of the city centre.

The toponym "Gilmerton" is derived from a combination of Scottish Gaelic: Gille-Moire– a personal name and later surname meaning "Servant of [the Virgin] Mary", from which comes the first element, "Gilmer", – and Old English: ton meaning "settlement" or "farmstead". Versions of the name are recorded from the middle of the 12th century. (Full article...)

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The Pentland Hills seen from Caerketton Hill

The Pentland Hills are a range of hills southwest of Edinburgh, Scotland. The range is around 20 miles (30 kilometres) in length, covers an area of 35 square miles (91 km2), and runs southwest from Edinburgh towards Biggar and the upper Clydesdale. The hills have been designated as a Scottish regional park. (Full article...)

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Selected arts article

The Scott Monument

This is a list of public art and memorials in Edinburgh, including statues and other sculptures.

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Heriot-Watt University (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by royal charter in 1966. It is the eighth-oldest higher education institution in the United Kingdom. The name Heriot-Watt was taken from Scottish inventor James Watt and Scottish philanthropist and goldsmith George Heriot.

The annual income of the institution for 2024–25 was £293.9 million of which £52.3 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £301.1 million. Known for its focus on science as well as engineering, it is one of the 23 colleges that were granted university status in the 1960s, and it is sometimes considered a plate glass university, like Lancaster and York. (Full article...)

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Ingliston Racing Circuit is a 1.030 mi (1.658 km) motor racing circuit that was built at the Royal Highland Showground at Ingliston, Edinburgh. The circuit was created by widening and linking the network of access roads at the venue which had previously been used exclusively as an agricultural showground.

The first racing took place at Ingliston on 11 April 1965 and it fast became recognised as one of Scotland's top motorsport venues. The first race was almost 10 years before Knockhill in Fife opened in 1974 . Ingliston became infamous for its tight corners and plethora of obstacles such as trees and buildings close to the track and was therefore considered to be more hazardous than other similar facilities in the UK. There were extensive spectator facilities including a 5000-person grandstand which was built around the southern part of the track and thus named 'Arena'. (Full article...)

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The Church of Scotland Offices

The Church of Scotland offices are located in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland (in the New Town), at 121 George Street. These imposing buildings are popularly known in Church circles as "one-two-one". They were designed in a Scandinavian-influenced style by the architect Sydney Mitchell and built in 1909–1911 for the United Free Church of Scotland. Following the union of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland in 1929 the church offices were henceforth used by the newly united church.

A matching extension, incorporating a ground floor bookshop, was built in the 1930s on the east side (119 George Street). A proposed matching extension on the west side (replacing the still-existing buildings at 123 George Street) was never built. 123 George Street is, however, owned by the Church of Scotland and has been incorporated into the offices. The church offices also incorporate a chapel near the main entrance and a staff canteen in the basement. (Full article...)

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