111-621: Eidyn was the region around modern Edinburgh in Britain's sub-Roman and early medieval periods, approximately the 5th–7th centuries. It centred on the stronghold of Din Eidyn , thought to have been at Castle Rock , now the site of Edinburgh Castle , and apparently included much of the area below the Firth of Forth . It was the most important district of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin , and
222-644: A UNESCO World Heritage Site , which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. The city's historical and cultural attractions have made it the UK's second-most visited tourist destination, attracting 4.9 million visits, including 2.4 million from overseas in 2018. Edinburgh is governed by the City of Edinburgh Council , a unitary authority. The City of Edinburgh council area had an estimated population of 514,990 in mid-2021, and includes outlying towns and villages which are not part of Edinburgh proper. The city
333-465: A royal charter , c. 1124–1127 , by King David I granting a toft in burgo meo de Edenesburg to the Priory of Dunfermline . The shire of Edinburgh seems to have also been created in the reign of David I, possibly covering all of Lothian at first, but by 1305 the eastern and western parts of Lothian had become Haddingtonshire and Linlithgowshire , leaving Edinburgh as the county town of
444-556: A date as late as 2000 BC, and others set 2200 BC as the demarcation between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. The period from 2500 BC to 2000 BC has been called the "Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age" in recognition of the difficulty of exactly defining the boundary. Some archaeologists recognise a British Chalcolithic when copper was used between the 25th and the 22nd centuries BC, but others do not because production and use were on
555-531: A major genetic shift in late Neolithic/early Bronze Age Britain and up to 90% of Britain's Neolithic gene pool may have been replaced with the coming of a people genetically similar to the Beaker people of the Lower Rhine region (modern Netherlands/central-western Germany), which had a high proportion of steppe ancestry . According to the evolutionary geneticist Ian Barnes , "Following the Beaker spread, there
666-483: A migration) into Southern Great Britain around the 12th century BC. The disruption was felt far beyond Britain, even beyond Europe, as most of the great Near Eastern empires collapsed (or experienced severe difficulties), and the Sea Peoples harried the entire Mediterranean basin around that time. Cremation was adopted as a burial practice, with cemeteries of urns containing cremated individuals appearing in
777-471: A place name referring to a mountain, not as a ruler. Koch suggested that the Eidyn ruler was Ureui or Gwylget Gododdin, who are mentioned in the text. In the 7th century, the Gododdin kingdom was in decline. At this time, Eidyn may have been a sub-kingdom within Gododdin, and its lords may have controlled only their own territory, and not all of Gododdin. The Annals of Ulster record the "siege of Etin " in
888-523: A population in 2014 of 1,339,380. Like most of Scotland, Edinburgh has a cool temperate maritime climate ( Cfb ) which, despite its northerly latitude, is milder than places which lie at similar latitudes such as Moscow and Labrador . The city's proximity to the sea mitigates any large variations in temperature or extremes of climate. Winter daytime temperatures rarely fall below freezing while summer temperatures are moderate, rarely exceeding 22 °C (72 °F). The highest temperature recorded in
999-634: A series of small summits to the south of the city centre that command expansive views looking northwards over the urban area to the Firth of Forth. Edinburgh is drained by the river named the Water of Leith , which rises at the Colzium Springs in the Pentland Hills and runs for 18 miles (29 km) through the south and west of the city, emptying into the Firth of Forth at Leith. The nearest
1110-585: A shire covering the central part of Lothian, which was called Edinburghshire or Midlothian (the latter name being an informal, but commonly used, alternative until the county's name was legally changed in 1947). Edinburgh was largely under English control from 1291 to 1314 and from 1333 to 1341, during the Wars of Scottish Independence . When the English invaded Scotland in 1298 , Edward I of England chose not to enter Edinburgh but passed by it with his army. In
1221-749: A significant power in the Hen Ogledd , or Old North, the Brittonic-speaking area of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. The site of Din Eidyn has been nearly continuously occupied since the Bronze Age , serving as a stronghold of the Votadini during the Roman era and later the principal centre of their successors, the Gododdin kingdom. Eidyn's importance to the Hen Ogledd
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#17327659349271332-510: A small loop or ring to make lashing the two together easier. Groups of unused axes are often found together, suggesting ritual deposits to some, but many archaeologists believe that elite groups collected bronze items and perhaps restricted their use among the wider population. Bronze swords of a graceful "leaf" shape, swelling gently from the handle before coming to a tip, have been found in considerable numbers, along with spear heads and arrow points. Great Britain had large reserves of tin in what
1443-727: A small scale. In Ireland, the final Dowris phase of the Late Bronze Age appears to decline in about 600 BC, but iron metallurgy does not appear until about 550 BC. Around 2500 BC, a new pottery style arrived in Great Britain: the Bell Beaker culture . Beaker pottery appears in the Mount Pleasant Phase (2700–2000 BC), along with flat axes and the burial practice of inhumation . People of this period were responsible for building Seahenge , along with
1554-547: A war band from across the Brittonic world who gathered in Eidyn before a fateful raid; this may describe a historical event around AD 600. In 638, the Gododdin stronghold was besieged by forces loyal to King Oswald of Northumbria , and around this time control of Lothian passed to the Angles . Their influence continued for the next three centuries until around 950, when, during the reign of Indulf , son of Constantine II ,
1665-520: Is almost entirely within the City of Edinburgh Council boundary, merging with Musselburgh in East Lothian. Towns within easy reach of the city boundary include Inverkeithing , Haddington , Tranent , Prestonpans , Dalkeith , Bonnyrigg , Loanhead , Penicuik , Broxburn , Livingston and Dunfermline . Edinburgh lies at the heart of the Edinburgh & South East Scotland City region with
1776-464: Is believed to have been located at Castle Rock , now the site of Edinburgh Castle . A siege of Din Eidyn by Oswald , king of the Angles of Northumbria in 638 marked the beginning of three centuries of Germanic influence in south east Scotland that laid the foundations for the development of Scots , before the town was ultimately subsumed in 954 by the kingdom known to the English as Scotland. As
1887-663: Is cloudier and somewhat wetter, but differences are minor. Temperature and rainfall records have been kept at the Royal Observatory since 1764. The most recent official population estimates (2020) are 506,520 for the locality (includes Currie ), 530,990 for the Edinburgh settlement (includes Musselburgh ). Bronze Age Britain Bronze Age Britain is an era of British history that spanned from c. 2500–2000 BC until c. 800 BC . Lasting for approximately 1,700 years, it
1998-426: Is encircled by a green belt , designated in 1957, which stretches from Dalmeny in the west to Prestongrange in the east. With an average width of 3.2 km (2 mi) the principal objectives of the green belt were to contain the outward expansion of the city and to prevent the agglomeration of urban areas. Expansion affecting the green belt is strictly controlled but developments such as Edinburgh Airport and
2109-599: Is in the Lothian region and was historically part of the shire of Midlothian (also called Edinburghshire). "Edin", the root of the city's name, derives from Eidyn , the name for the region in Cumbric , the Brittonic Celtic language formerly spoken there. The name's meaning is unknown. The district of Eidyn was centred on the stronghold of Din Eidyn, the dun or hillfort of Eidyn. This stronghold
2220-596: Is in the 13th-century Book of Aneirin , but textual evidence suggests the scribes copied from two or three earlier manuscripts. Additionally, figures associated with Eidyn, including Clyddno Eidyn and his son Cynon ap Clydno – a survivor of Catraeth – featured in poetry, the Welsh Triads, and Arthurian material throughout the Middle Ages. A pedigree of Clyddno's family recorded in the Harleian genealogies and
2331-464: Is much harder than copper, by mixing copper with a small amount of tin . With that discovery, the Bronze Age began in Great Britain. Over the next thousand years, bronze gradually replaced stone as the main material for tool and weapon making. The bronze axehead, made by casting , was at first similar to its stone predecessors but then developed a socket for the wooden handle to fit into and
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#17327659349272442-713: Is now Cornwall and Devon in South West England and thus tin mining began. By around 1600 BC, the South-West experiencing a trade boom, as British tin was exported across Europe. Bronze Age Britons were also skilled at making jewellery from gold , as well as occasional objects like the Rillaton Cup and Mold Cape . Many examples have been found in graves of the wealthy Wessex culture of Southern Britain, but they are not as frequent as Irish finds. The greatest quantities of bronze objects found in what
2553-604: Is now England were discovered in East Cambridgeshire , where the most important finds were recovered in Isleham (more than 6500 pieces ). The earliest known metalworking building was found at Sigwells, Somerset, England. Several casting mould fragments were fitted to a Wilburton type sword held in Somerset County Museum. They were found in association with cereal grain that has been dated to
2664-422: Is reflected in the medieval poem Y Gododdin , which concerns a war band that gathered there for a raid around AD 600. After years of decline, Eidyn was conquered by the Angles in 638. Eidyn is the source of the name of Edinburgh in English, Scots and Scottish Gaelic . It also remained prominent in Brittonic tradition throughout the Middle Ages. Y Gododdin evidently circulated in multiple manuscripts into
2775-440: Is typical of the old quarters of many Northern European cities. The New Town was an 18th-century solution to the problem of an increasingly crowded city which had been confined to the ridge sloping down from the castle. In 1766 a competition to design a "New Town" was won by James Craig , a 27-year-old architect. The plan was a rigid, ordered grid, which fitted in well with Enlightenment ideas of rationality. The principal street
2886-462: The Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd may record Eidyn's kingly line. Edinburgh Edinburgh ( / ˈ ɛ d ɪ n b ər ə / ED -in-bər-ə , Scots: [ˈɛdɪnbʌrə] ; Scottish Gaelic : Dùn Èideann [t̪un ˈeːtʲən̪ˠ] ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas . The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by
2997-585: The Antonine Wall north of the Votadini and what would become Eidyn, with its eastern terminus likely at Carriden. The Votadini may have become a Roman client kingdom , tasked with defending the border against the Picts and Scots . The conception of Eidyn as Britain's northern border against the barbarians remained popular for hundreds of years. In the post-Roman era, the Votadini polity transitioned into
3108-654: The Athenian Acropolis , as did aspects of the neoclassical architecture and layout of New Town . Both cities had flatter, fertile agricultural land sloping down to a port several miles away (respectively, Leith and Piraeus ). Intellectually, the Scottish Enlightenment , with its humanist and rationalist outlook, was influenced by Ancient Greek philosophy . In 1822, artist Hugh William Williams organized an exhibition that showed his paintings of Athens alongside views of Edinburgh, and
3219-465: The Caer Eidyn etymology and believed that Eidyn represented a wider region. Accepting the latter interpretation, Rachel Bromwich wrote that Eidyn would have covered much of the area south of the Firth of Forth , either abutting or possibly including the area known as Manaw Gododdin . Eidyn is the source of the name of Edinburgh in English, Scots and Scottish Gaelic. The Angles , who conquered
3330-590: The Firth of Forth estuary and to the south by the Pentland Hills . Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in mid-2020, making it the second-most populous city in Scotland 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
3441-661: The George Square and Potterrow areas proved highly controversial. Since the 1990s a new "financial district", including the Edinburgh International Conference Centre , has grown mainly on demolished railway property to the west of the castle, stretching into Fountainbridge , a run-down 19th-century industrial suburb which has undergone radical change since the 1980s with the demise of industrial and brewery premises. This ongoing development has enabled Edinburgh to maintain its place as
Eidyn - Misplaced Pages Continue
3552-456: The Gododdin kingdom. Eidyn's importance to the Gododdin and the Hen Ogledd in general is attested in the early medieval poem Y Gododdin . The work relates that a force of 300 distinguished warriors from across the Brittonic world assembled at Din Eidyn for a raid on Catraeth (probably Catterick ) around AD 600. The poem's dense language and convoluted history make it difficult to interpret
3663-464: The Hallstatt culture . In 2021, a major archaeogenetics study uncovered a migration into southern Britain during the 500-year period from 1300 to 800 BC. The newcomers were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from Gaul and had higher levels of Early European Farmers ancestry. From 1000 to 875 BC, their genetic marker swiftly spread through southern Britain, which made up around half
3774-693: The Romans arrived in Lothian at the end of the 1st century AD, they found a Brittonic Celtic tribe whose name they recorded as the Votadini . The Votadini transitioned into the Gododdin kingdom in the Early Middle Ages , with Eidyn serving as one of the kingdom's districts. During this period, the Castle Rock site, thought to have been the stronghold of Din Eidyn, emerged as the kingdom's major centre. The medieval poem Y Gododdin describes
3885-668: The Royal Highland Showground at Ingliston lie within the zone. Similarly, suburbs such as Juniper Green and Balerno are situated on green belt land. One feature of the Edinburgh green belt is the inclusion of parcels of land within the city which are designated green belt, even though they do not connect with the peripheral ring. Examples of these independent wedges of green belt include Holyrood Park and Corstorphine Hill. Edinburgh includes former towns and villages that retain much of their original character as settlements in existence before they were absorbed into
3996-753: The Scotland Act , which came into force the following year, established a devolved Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive (renamed the Scottish Government since September 2007 ). Both based in Edinburgh, they are responsible for governing Scotland while reserved matters such as defence, foreign affairs and some elements of income tax remain the responsibility of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in London. In 2022, Edinburgh
4107-796: The Scottish Government , the Scottish Parliament , the highest courts in Scotland , and the Palace of Holyroodhouse , the official residence of the 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 , founded in 1582 and now one of three in
4218-795: 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, the churches of St. Giles , Greyfriars and the Canongate , and the extensive Georgian New Town built in the 18th/19th centuries. Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town together are listed as
4329-739: The South Bridge in the 1780s. The Southside is particularly popular with families (many state and private schools are here), young professionals and students (the central University of Edinburgh campus is based around George Square just north of Marchmont and the Meadows ), and Napier University (with major campuses around Merchiston and Morningside). The area is also well provided with hotel and "bed and breakfast" accommodation for visiting festival-goers. These districts often feature in works of fiction. For example, Church Hill in Morningside,
4440-420: The dun or hillfort of Eidyn) in modern Edinburgh . Place-name evidence suggests Eidyn spread more widely, surviving also in the name of Carriden (from Caer Eidyn ), located eighteen miles to the west. Kenneth H. Jackson argued strongly that Eidyn referred exclusively to Din Eidyn, suggesting a different origin for Carriden. However, other scholars such as Ifor Williams and Nora K. Chadwick argued for
4551-503: The "burh" (fortress), named in the 10th-century Pictish Chronicle as oppidum Eden , was abandoned to the Scots. It thenceforth remained, for the most part, under their jurisdiction. The royal burgh was founded by King David I in the early 12th century on land belonging to the Crown, though the date of its charter is unknown. The first documentary evidence of the medieval burgh is
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4662-510: The 12th century BC by carbon dating . The rich Wessex culture developed in southern Great Britain during that time. The weather, previously warm and dry, became much wetter as the Bronze Age continued, which forced the population away from easily-defended sites in the hills and into the fertile valleys . Large livestock farms developed in the lowlands which appear to have contributed to economic growth and inspired increasing forest clearances. The Deverel-Rimbury culture began to emerge during
4773-530: The 13th century. Eidyn also features in the Welsh Triads and poetry, where it was often remembered as the Britons' northern frontier. Welsh genealogies of the figure Clydno Eidyn may preserve Eidyn's royal pedigree. Questions of Eidyn's name and location are closely linked, as it is not entirely clear what area the name refers to. It certainly included the fortress of Din Eidyn (a Brittonic name meaning
4884-499: The 1860s began the transformation of the area into the predominantly Victorian Old Town seen today. More improvements followed in the early 20th century as a result of the work of Patrick Geddes , but relative economic stagnation during the two world wars and beyond saw the Old Town deteriorate further before major slum clearance in the 1960s and 1970s began to reverse the process. University building developments which transformed
4995-465: The 18th-century novel The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollett one character describes Edinburgh as a "hotbed of genius". Edinburgh was also a major centre for the Scottish book trade. The highly successful London bookseller Andrew Millar was apprenticed there to James McEuen. From the 1770s onwards, the professional and business classes gradually deserted the Old Town in favour of
5106-520: The 19th century and joined by new industries such as rubber works , engineering works and others. By 1821, Edinburgh had been overtaken by Glasgow as Scotland's largest city. The city centre between Princes Street and George Street became a major commercial and shopping district, a development partly stimulated by the arrival of railways in the 1840s. The Old Town became an increasingly dilapidated, overcrowded slum with high mortality rates. Improvements carried out under Lord Provost William Chambers in
5217-627: The Angles. Several works invoke Eidyn's position as the northern frontier of the Britons. The poem Pa gur yv y porthaur? ( What man is the gatekeeper? ), dating to the 10th century or earlier, contains several allusions to King Arthur and his warriors defending "Eidyn at the border". The poem describes Arthur's company fighting cinbin ( dogheads ) on the "Mountain of Eidyn". It also mentions Bedwyr (the Sir Bedivere of later tradition) sparring with Garwlwyd ("Rough-Grey"), evidently one of
5328-523: The Bronze Age, possibly making it the oldest site in Scotland that has been nearly continuously occupied. However, the earliest evidence suggests the site was initially minor compared to other contemporary locations. During the Iron Age , the site was apparently a fortified village, though only one of several in the Edinburgh region. Its easily defended location appears to have given it an advantage over other nearby sites such as Arthur's Seat, where settlement
5439-471: The Bronze Age, with smaller tombs often dug into the primary mounds. There has been debate amongst archaeologists as to whether the "Beaker people" were a race of people that migrated to Britain en masse from the continent or whether a Beaker cultural "package" of goods and behaviour, which eventually spread across most of Western Europe, diffused to Britain's existing inhabitants through trade across tribal boundaries. However one recent study (2017) suggests
5550-411: The Castle Rock, giving rise to allusions to the seven hills of Rome . Occupying a narrow gap between the Firth of Forth to the north and the Pentland Hills and their outrunners to the south, the city sprawls over a landscape which is the product of early volcanic activity and later periods of intensive glaciation. Igneous activity between 350 and 400 million years ago, coupled with faulting , led to
5661-668: The English in 1544, Edinburgh continued to develop and grow, and was at the centre of events in the 16th-century Scottish Reformation and 17th-century Wars of the Covenant . In 1582, Edinburgh's town council was given a royal charter by King James VI permitting the establishment of a university; founded as Tounis College (Town's College), the institution developed into the University of Edinburgh , which contributed to Edinburgh's central intellectual role in subsequent centuries. In 1603, King James VI of Scotland succeeded to
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#17327659349275772-620: The English throne, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England in a personal union known as the Union of the Crowns , though Scotland remained, in all other respects, a separate kingdom. In 1638, King Charles I's attempt to introduce Anglican church forms in Scotland encountered stiff Presbyterian opposition culminating in the conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms . Subsequent Scottish support for Charles Stuart 's restoration to
5883-485: The Gododdin kingdom, especially after the abandonment of Traprain Law in the early 5th century. In the 7th century, when the Gododdin kingdom was in decline, the lords of Din Eidyn may have only controlled only the Eidyn district rather than the entire Gododdin territory. Following the Anglian conquest of Eidyn, the Din Eidyn location remained a fortified settlement of the Angles, and later of the Scots. Eidyn remained prominent in Brittonic tradition long after its conquest by
5994-446: The Jacobite "Highland Army" before its march into England. After its eventual defeat at Culloden , there followed a period of reprisals and pacification, largely directed at the rebellious clans . In Edinburgh, the Town Council, keen to emulate London by initiating city improvements and expansion to the north of the castle, reaffirmed its belief in the Union and loyalty to the Hanoverian monarch George III by its choice of names for
6105-421: The Late Neolithic continued to be constructed or modified, including such sites as Avebury , Stonehenge , Silbury Hill and Must Farm . That has been described as a time "when elaborate ceremonial practices emerged among some communities of subsistence agriculturalists of western Europe". There is no clear consensus on the date for the beginning of the Bronze Age in Great Britain and Ireland. Some sources give
6216-436: The Neolithic era, a large chambered cairn or long barrow was used to house the dead. The 'Early Bronze Age' saw people buried in individual barrows , also commonly known and marked on modern British Ordnance Survey maps as tumuli, or sometimes in cists covered with cairns . They were often buried with a beaker alongside the body. However, even though customs changed, barrows and burial mounds continued to be used during
6327-424: The North". Robert Louis Stevenson, also a son of the city, wrote that Edinburgh "is what Paris ought to be". The earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area was at Cramond , where evidence was found of a Mesolithic camp site dated to c. 8500 BC. Traces of later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have been found on Castle Rock, Arthur's Seat , Craiglockhart Hill and the Pentland Hills . When
6438-438: The Provost for the time as Sheriff, and by the Bailies for the time as Sheriffsdepute conjunctly and severally; with full power to hold Courts, to punish transgressors not only by banishment but by death, to appoint officers of Court, and to do everything else appertaining to the office of Sheriff; as also to apply to their own proper use the fines and escheats arising out of the exercise of the said office." Despite being burnt by
6549-438: The United Kingdom's second largest financial and administrative centre after London. Financial services now account for a third of all commercial office space in the city. The development of Edinburgh Park , a new business and technology park covering 38 acres (15 ha), 4 mi (6 km) west of the city centre, has also contributed to the District Council's strategy for the city's major economic regeneration. In 1998,
6660-430: The adjectival forms Edinburgensis and Edinensis are used in educational and scientific contexts. Edina is a late 18th-century poetical form used by the Scots poets Robert Fergusson and Robert Burns . "Embra" or "Embro" are colloquialisms from the same time, as in Robert Garioch 's Embro to the Ploy . Ben Jonson described it as "Britaine's other eye", and Sir Walter Scott referred to it as "yon Empress of
6771-433: The ancestry of subsequent Iron Age people in that area, but not in northern Britain. The "evidence suggests that, rather than a violent invasion or a single migratory event, the genetic structure of the population changed through sustained contacts between Britain and mainland Europe over several centuries, such as the movement of traders, intermarriage, and small scale movements of family groups". The authors describe this as
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#17327659349276882-437: The archaeological record. According to John T. Koch and others, the Celtic languages developed during the Late Bronze Age period in an intensely-trading-networked culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age , which included Britain, Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal, but that stands in contrast to the more generally-accepted view that the Celtic languages developed earlier than that, with some cultural practices developing in
6993-405: The architectural style of the New Town into the early 19th century. Bute House , the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland , is on the north side of Charlotte Square. The hollow between the Old and New Towns was formerly the Nor Loch , which was created for the town's defence but came to be used by the inhabitants for dumping their sewage . It was drained by the 1820s as part of
7104-576: The area in the 7th century, replaced the Brittonic din in Din Eidyn with the Old English burh to produce Edinburgh ; similarly, the name became Dùn Èideann in Scottish Gaelic. The origin of the name Eidyn is not known. It may not have been known even in the 7th century, as both the Angles and Gaels adopted it into their languages more or less phonetically, even as they translated the term Din into their own languages. Some sources suggest it derives from an Old English form referring to Edwin of Northumbria , though modern scholarship refutes this, as
7215-483: The area. With the redevelopment, Edinburgh has gained the business of cruise liner companies which now provide cruises to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands. The coastal suburb of Portobello is characterised by Georgian villas, Victorian tenements, a beach and promenade and cafés, bars, restaurants and independent shops. There are rowing and sailing clubs, a restored Victorian swimming pool, and Victorian Turkish baths . The urban area of Edinburgh
7326-423: The city between October and April. Located slightly north of the city centre, the weather station at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) has been an official weather station for the Met Office since 1956. The Met Office operates its own weather station at Gogarbank on the city's western outskirts, near Edinburgh Airport . This slightly inland station has a slightly wider temperature span between seasons,
7437-423: The city was 31.6 °C (88.9 °F) on 25 July 2019 at Gogarbank, beating the previous record of 31 °C (88 °F) on 4 August 1975 at Edinburgh Airport. The lowest temperature recorded in recent years was −14.6 °C (5.7 °F) during December 2010 at Gogarbank. Given Edinburgh's position between the coast and hills, it is renowned as "the windy city", with the prevailing wind direction coming from
7548-473: The city's northward expansion. Craig's original plan included an ornamental canal on the site of the loch, but this idea was abandoned. Soil excavated while laying the foundations of buildings in the New Town was dumped on the site of the loch to create the slope connecting the Old and New Towns known as The Mound . In the middle of the 19th century the National Gallery of Scotland and Royal Scottish Academy Building were built on The Mound, and tunnels for
7659-407: The city, is considered one of the best research institutions in the world. The financial centre of Scotland, Edinburgh is the second-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom, the fourth largest in Europe, and the thirteenth largest internationally. The city is a cultural centre, and is the home of institutions including the National Museum of Scotland , the National Library of Scotland and
7770-415: The creation of tough basalt volcanic plugs , which predominate over much of the area. One such example is the Castle Rock which forced the advancing ice sheet to divide, sheltering the softer rock and forming a 1 mi-long (1.6 km) tail of material to the east, thus creating a distinctive crag and tail formation. Glacial erosion on the north side of the crag gouged a deep valley later filled by
7881-567: The crest of a ridge from it terminating at Holyrood Palace. Minor streets (called closes or wynds ) lie on either side of the main spine forming a herringbone pattern. Due to space restrictions imposed by the narrowness of this landform, the Old Town became home to some of the earliest "high rise" residential buildings. Multi-storey dwellings known as lands were the norm from the 16th century onwards with ten and eleven storeys being typical and one even reaching fourteen or fifteen storeys. Numerous vaults below street level were inhabited to accommodate
7992-427: The earlier Neolithic people and cultural change was significant. Many of the early henge sites seem to have been adopted by the newcomers. Furthermore, a fundamentally different approach to burying the dead began. In contrast to the Neolithic practice of communal burials, the Bronze Age society undergoes an apparent shift towards focusing on to the individual, rather on the ancestors as a collective. For example, in
8103-451: The existence of a Lugudunom , or "Fort of Lugus", which Koch suggested was an alternative name or epithet of Din Eidyn. Fortified communities appeared around Edinburgh in the Bronze Age and early Iron Age . During Britain's early Roman era , the area was recorded as part of the territory of the Votadini . The Votadini were largely independent but subject to Roman influence in the 2nd century. Around 143, Emperor Antoninus Pius commenced
8214-434: The expanding city of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Many areas, such as Dalry , contain residences that are multi-occupancy buildings known as tenements , although the more southern and western parts of the city have traditionally been less built-up with a greater number of detached and semi-detached villas. The historic centre of Edinburgh is divided in two by the broad green swathe of Princes Street Gardens . To
8325-477: The fact that the social classes shared the same urban space, even inhabiting the same tenement buildings; although here a form of social segregation did prevail, whereby shopkeepers and tradesmen tended to occupy the cheaper-to-rent cellars and garrets, while the more well-to-do professional classes occupied the more expensive middle storeys. During the Jacobite rising of 1745 , Edinburgh was briefly occupied by
8436-489: The form Eidyn predates Edwin. Eidyn is evidently the original form of the name, though Eiddyn appears in later poetry. Later Welsh sources also refer to Lleuddiniawn , the region now known as Lothian . Celtic scholar John T. Koch traces these names to the god Lugus , who was especially revered in this area. He argues that the original form was * Luguduniana ("Country of the Fort of [the god] Lugus"). This name implies
8547-430: The historical events underlying the work. According to Ifor Williams ' interpretation, the warriors were summoned by Mynydawc Eidyn , perhaps a Gododdin ruler, to attack the Angles holding Catraeth. The warriors feasted for a year before setting out on the expedition, during which almost all were killed. Later scholars such as John Koch and Graham Isaac have challenged elements of this interpretation, and read Mynydawc as
8658-632: The idea of a direct parallel between both cities quickly caught the popular imagination. When plans were drawn up in the early 19th century to architecturally develop Calton Hill , the design of the National Monument directly copied Athens' Parthenon . Tom Stoppard 's character Archie of Jumpers said, perhaps playing on Reykjavík meaning "smoky bay", that the "Reykjavík of the South" would be more appropriate. The city has also been known by several Latin names , such as Edinburgum , while
8769-620: The influx of incomers, particularly Irish immigrants , during the Industrial Revolution . The street has several fine public buildings such as St Giles' Cathedral, the City Chambers and the Law Courts . Other places of historical interest nearby are Greyfriars Kirkyard and Mary King's Close . The Grassmarket , running deep below the castle is connected by the steep double terraced Victoria Street. The street layout
8880-498: The kingdom of Edinburgh" in 934, suggesting a fortification of some note existed at that time. The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says that the Scots conquered Eidyn and its fort under King Indulf , who ruled from 954–962. Around this time a noble estate was built there, paving the way for the royal castle in the 11th century. Eidyn's most significant location was the stronghold of Din Eidyn. The initial Iron Age settlement at Din Eidyn
8991-463: The language shifted from Cumbric to Northumbrian Old English and then Scots , the Brittonic din in Din Eidyn was replaced by burh , producing Edinburgh . In Scottish Gaelic din becomes dùn , producing modern Dùn Èideann . The city is affectionately nicknamed Auld Reekie , Scots for Old Smoky , for the views from the country of the smoke-covered Old Town. A note in a collection of
9102-431: The later phases of Stonehenge . Silbury Hill was also built in the early Beaker period. Movement of continental Europeans brought new people to the islands from the continent. Recent tooth enamel isotope research on bodies found in early Bronze Age graves around Stonehenge indicates that at least some of the new arrivals came from the area of modern Switzerland . The Beaker culture displayed different behaviours from
9213-535: The middle of the 14th century, the French chronicler Jean Froissart described it as the capital of Scotland (c. 1365), and James III (1451–88) referred to it in the 15th century as "the principal burgh of our kingdom". In 1482 James III "granted and perpetually confirmed to the said Provost, Bailies, Clerk, Council, and Community, and their successors, the office of Sheriff within the Burgh for ever, to be exercised by
9324-623: The modern-day skyscraper. Most of these old structures were replaced by the predominantly Victorian buildings seen in today's Old Town. In 1611 an act of parliament created the High Constables of Edinburgh to keep order in the city, thought to be the oldest statutory police force in the world. Following the Treaty of Union in 1706, the Parliaments of England and Scotland passed Acts of Union in 1706 and 1707 respectively, uniting
9435-592: The monsters, at the "shores of Tryfrwyd ". Similarly, Welsh Triad 33 includes a certain Llawgat Trwm Bargod Eidyn (Heavy Battle-Hand of the Border of Eidyn), who killed Afaon , son of Taliesin , in one of the "Three Unfortunate Slaughters of the Island of Britain". Y Gododdin and its account of Eidyn apparently circulated in multiple manuscripts during the Middle Ages. The only existing version
9546-538: The more elegant "one-family" residences of the New Town, a migration that changed the city's social character. According to the foremost historian of this development, "Unity of social feeling was one of the most valuable heritages of old Edinburgh, and its disappearance was widely and properly lamented." Despite an enduring myth to the contrary, Edinburgh became an industrial centre with its traditional industries of printing, brewing and distilling continuing to grow in
9657-475: The now drained Nor Loch . These features, along with another hollow on the rock's south side, formed an ideal natural strongpoint upon which Edinburgh Castle was built. Similarly, Arthur's Seat is the remains of a volcano dating from the Carboniferous period , which was eroded by a glacier moving west to east during the ice age. Erosive action such as plucking and abrasion exposed the rocky crags to
9768-428: The people have the art, very strange to Aeneas, of burning a certain sort of black stones, and Edinburgh with its chimneys is called 'Auld Reekie' by the country people". The 19th-century historian Robert Chambers asserted that the sobriquet could not be traced before the reign of Charles II in the late 17th century. He attributed the name to a Fife laird, Durham of Largo, who regulated the bedtime of his children by
9879-522: The railway line between Haymarket and Waverley stations were driven through it. The Southside is a residential part of the city, which includes the districts of St Leonards , Marchmont , Morningside , Newington , Sciennes , the Grange and Blackford . The Southside is broadly analogous to the area covered formerly by the Burgh Muir , and was developed as a residential area after the opening of
9990-413: The river gets to the city centre is at Dean Village on the north-western edge of the New Town, where a deep gorge is spanned by Thomas Telford 's Dean Bridge , built in 1832 for the road to Queensferry . The Water of Leith Walkway is a mixed-use trail that follows the course of the river for 19.6 km (12.2 mi) from Balerno to Leith. Excepting the shoreline of the Firth of Forth, Edinburgh
10101-647: The second half of the 'Middle Bronze Age' (c. 1400–1100 BC) to exploit the wetter conditions. Cornwall was a major source of tin for much of western Europe and copper was extracted from sites such as the Great Orme mine in Northern Wales . Social groups appear to have been tribal, but growing complexity and hierarchies became apparent. There is evidence of a relatively large-scale disruption of cultural patterns (see Late Bronze Age collapse ), which some scholars think may indicate an invasion (or at least
10212-455: The second half of the century, the city was at the heart of the Scottish Enlightenment , when thinkers like David Hume, Adam Smith, James Hutton and Joseph Black were familiar figures in its streets. Edinburgh became a major intellectual centre, earning it the nickname "Athens of the North" because of its many neo-classical buildings and reputation for learning, recalling ancient Athens. In
10323-580: The smoke rising above Edinburgh from the fires of the tenements. "It's time now bairns, to tak' the beuks, and gang to our beds, for yonder's Auld Reekie, I see, putting on her nicht -cap!". Edinburgh has been popularly called the Athens of the North since the early 19th century. References to Athens, such as Athens of Britain and Modern Athens , had been made as early as the 1760s. The similarities were seen to be topographical but also intellectual. Edinburgh's Castle Rock reminded returning grand tourists of
10434-548: The south, the view is dominated by Edinburgh Castle, built high on Castle Rock, and the long sweep of the Old Town descending towards Holyrood Palace. To the north lie Princes Street and the New Town. The West End includes the financial district, with insurance and banking offices as well as the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. Edinburgh's Old and New Towns were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 in recognition of
10545-546: The south-west, which is often associated with warm, unstable air from the North Atlantic Current that can give rise to rainfall – although considerably less than cities to the west, such as Glasgow. Rainfall is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. Winds from an easterly direction are usually drier but considerably colder, and may be accompanied by haar , a persistent coastal fog. Vigorous Atlantic depressions, known as European windstorms , can affect
10656-553: The southern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city centre is 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 mi (4.0 km) southwest of the shoreline of Leith and 26 mi (42 km) inland, as the crow flies, from the east coast of Scotland and the North Sea at Dunbar . While the early burgh grew up near the prominent Castle Rock, the modern city is often said to be built on seven hills , namely Calton Hill , Corstorphine Hill , Craiglockhart Hill, Braid Hill , Blackford Hill , Arthur's Seat and
10767-517: The streets of the New Town: for example, Rose Street and Thistle Street; and for the royal family, George Street , Queen Street , Hanover Street, Frederick Street and Princes Street (in honour of George's two sons). The consistently geometric layout of the plan for the extension of Edinburgh was the result of a major competition in urban planning staged by the Town Council in 1766. In
10878-501: The throne of England resulted in Edinburgh's occupation by Oliver Cromwell 's Commonwealth of England forces – the New Model Army – in 1650. In the 17th century, Edinburgh's boundaries were still defined by the city's defensive town walls . As a result, the city's growing population was accommodated by increasing the height of the houses. Buildings of 11 storeys or more were common, and have been described as forerunners of
10989-538: The two kingdoms in the Kingdom of Great Britain effective from 1 May 1707. As a consequence, the Parliament of Scotland merged with the Parliament of England to form the Parliament of Great Britain , which sat at Westminster in London. The Union was opposed by many Scots, resulting in riots in the city. By the first half of the 18th century, Edinburgh was described as one of Europe's most densely populated, overcrowded and unsanitary towns. Visitors were struck by
11100-473: The unique character of the Old Town with its medieval street layout and the planned Georgian New Town, including the adjoining Dean Village and Calton Hill areas. There are over 4,500 listed buildings within the city, a higher proportion relative to area than any other city in the United Kingdom. The castle is perched on top of a rocky crag (the remnant of an extinct volcano) and the Royal Mile runs down
11211-551: The west before leaving a tail of deposited glacial material swept to the east. This process formed the distinctive Salisbury Crags , a series of teschenite cliffs between Arthur's Seat and the location of the early burgh. The residential areas of Marchmont and Bruntsfield are built along a series of drumlin ridges south of the city centre, which were deposited as the glacier receded. Other prominent landforms such as Calton Hill and Corstorphine Hill are also products of glacial erosion. The Braid Hills and Blackford Hill are
11322-483: The works of the poet, Allan Ramsay , explains, "Auld Reeky...A name the country people give Edinburgh, from the cloud of smoke or reek that is always impending over it." In Walter Scott 's 1820 novel The Abbot , a character observes that "yonder stands Auld Reekie—you may see the smoke hover over her at twenty miles' distance". In 1898, Thomas Carlyle comments on the phenomenon: "Smoke cloud hangs over old Edinburgh, for, ever since Aeneas Silvius 's time and earlier,
11433-475: The year 638. This may refer to the final Anglian conquest of Lothian. This is also the earliest relatively certain historical reference to Eidyn. Eidyn appears to have remained in Anglian hands for most of the next three centuries, although historical and archaeological evidence is scant, and it is unclear if a fortress remained at Din Eidyn. The Annals of Clonmacnoise indicate that Æthelstan of England "spoiled
11544-514: Was a matter of great resentment when the two burghs merged in 1920 into the City of Edinburgh. Even today the parliamentary seat is known as "Edinburgh North and Leith". The loss of traditional industries and commerce (the last shipyard closed in 1983) resulted in economic decline. The Edinburgh Waterfront development has transformed old dockland areas from Leith to Granton into residential areas with shopping and leisure facilities and helped rejuvenate
11655-646: Was a population in Britain that for the first time had ancestry and skin and eye pigmentation similar to Britons today". Several regions of origin have been postulated for the Beaker culture , notably the Iberian Peninsula, the Netherlands and Central Europe. Part of the Beaker culture brought the skill of refining metal to Great Britain. At first, they made items from copper , but from around 2150 BC , smiths had discovered how to make bronze , which
11766-522: Was affected by the 2022 Scotland bin strikes . In 2023, Edinburgh became the first capital city in Europe to sign the global Plant Based Treaty , which was introduced at COP26 in 2021 in Glasgow. Green Party councillor Steve Burgess introduced the treaty. The Scottish Countryside Alliance and other farming groups called the treaty "anti-farming". Situated in Scotland's Central Belt , Edinburgh lies on
11877-520: Was evidently unstable and not continuous. In the Roman era, the site supported a prosperous settlement that likely included a hillfort, perhaps featuring a broch (roundhouse). In this period, Castle Rock was apparently one of the major centres of the Votadini, though it was dwarfed by Traprain Law , which was ten times larger. In the early medieval period, Din Eidyn emerged as the principal political centre of
11988-507: Was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the period of Iron Age Britain . Being categorised as the Bronze Age , it was marked by the use of copper and then bronze by the prehistoric Britons, who used such metals to fashion tools. Great Britain in the Bronze Age also saw the widespread adoption of agriculture . During the British Bronze Age, large megalithic monuments similar to those from
12099-443: Was presumably a dun or hill fort. Remains of such structures exist at Arthur's Seat and at Castle Rock (now the site of Edinburgh Castle ), and some other hilltops in the area. Among these, archaeologists generally identify the Castle Rock site as Din Eidyn, as the evidence indicates it was an important centre continuously from Roman times into the Middle Ages. Archaeological evidence suggests Castle Rock has been inhabited since
12210-572: Was the home of Muriel Spark 's Miss Jean Brodie, and Ian Rankin 's Inspector Rebus lives in Marchmont and works in St Leonards. Leith was historically the port of Edinburgh, an arrangement of unknown date that was confirmed by the royal charter Robert the Bruce granted to the city in 1329. The port developed a separate identity from Edinburgh, which to some extent it still retains, and it
12321-576: Was to be George Street , running along the natural ridge to the north of what became known as the "Old Town". To either side of it are two other main streets: Princes Street and Queen Street. Princes Street has become Edinburgh's main shopping street and now has few of its Georgian buildings in their original state. The three main streets are connected by a series of streets running perpendicular to them. The east and west ends of George Street are terminated by St Andrew Square and Charlotte Square respectively. The latter, designed by Robert Adam , influenced
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