South View of Edinburgh Showing the Castle

Category

Library Item

Item no

500

Title

South view of Edinburgh showing the Castle

Description

View of Edinburgh Castle drawn from Bruntsfield Links. The crag and tail formation of the Castle Rock can be clearly seen in this view.

Artist / maker

Baynes, Thomas Mann

Date

1822

Size

25 x 21 cm.

Type

Lithograph

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Edinburgh Castle stands on a volcanic plug. It has been used as a fortification since the Iron Age. The oldest part of the present day castle is St Margaret's Chapel which dates from 1093. The Castle holds the Honours of Scotland and more recently has welcomed back the Stone of Scone otherwise known as the Stone of Destiny.

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

Homes > Residential buildings > Castles and palaces

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

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