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Visitors admiring the view from Edinburgh Castle
Unknown, 1939, Photograph
Item
of 45
Visitors admiring the view from Edinburgh Castle
Visitors admiring the view from Edinburgh Castle
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Category
Library Item
Item no
10971
Title
Visitors admiring the view from Edinburgh Castle at Mons Meg
Description
Tourists gather around the boundary wall at Edinburgh Castle to look at the view. The large cannon of Mons Meg is behind them and there are several smaller canons visible on a lower ledge of the castle enclosure. The view shows Princes Street and the dome of the former Church of St George, now West Register House.
Artist / maker
Unknown
Date
1939
Size
25.6 x 30.4 cm
Type
Photograph
Location
Edinburgh and Scottish Collection
Edinburgh Castle is perhaps the city's most famous landmark. It stands on top of the remaining core of an extinct volcano. Excavations suggest the site was inhabited by Bronze Age man as early as 900 BC, and was fortified by Iron Age man roughly 2000 years ago. The oldest part of the present day Castle is St Margaret's Chapel, built in the early 12th century. The Castle holds the Honours of Scotland and more recently has welcomed back the Stone of Scone otherwise known as the Stone of Destiny.
Mons Meg is a large siege gun presented to James II by Philip, Duke of Burgundy in 1457. It is one of a pair constructed in Mons in present day Belgium. The gun's sheer size limited its mobility and therefore its military utility. Mons Meg continued to be used for ceremonial purposes until 1681 when it burst whilst being fired to celebrate the Duke of Albany's birthday. It was repaired but has not been fired since.
Exhibitions with this item
Whose Town? Edinburgh during the Second World War
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