Edinburgh from Craigleith Quarry

Category

Library Item

Item no

460

Title

Edinburgh from Craigleith Quarry

Artist / maker

Leitch, William Leighton

Date

1854

Size

26.6 x 41.2 cm

Type

Aquatint

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

The city of Edinburgh is built around seven hills, mostly volcanic in origin. It is bordered to its north by the Firth of Forth, and to its south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh has been Scotland's capital since the mid fifteenth century, but evidence of human habitation on the site stretches back some 7000 years. The central city is made up of the Old Town area immediately surrounding the Castle and the Royal Mile, and the New Town to the north, an important example of eighteenth and nineteenth century neoclassical town planning. These central areas were designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. Other more modern developments, from the nineteenth century to the present, radiate from this central area incorporating many older villages. Edinburgh attracts more tourists than any other city in the UK except London, especially during the annual festivals in August.

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Related subjects

Manufacturing Industry > Manufacturing facilities > Quarries

Places > Edinburgh areas > Craigleith

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

(55°57′26″N, 3°14′31″W)

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