For centuries, the Grassmarket was the place where public
executions were held. It also served as the city's main weekly market after
being granted a charter by James III in 1477. It is now filled with restaurants
and pubs and is a favorite spot for nightlife.
Greyfriars Kirk
Greyfriars was the first church to open in Scotland
after the Reformation and opened in 1620. It takes its name from the Franciscan
friary which stood nearby. In 1638 the National Covenant was signed here,
rejecting Charles I's attempts to impose episcopacy and a new English prayer
book, and affirming the independence of the Scottish
Church. Many who signed it were
later executed. There is a small exhibition on the National Covenant, a display
on the Kirks four hundred year history, and an original portrait of Greyfriars
Bobby dating from 1867. Bobby was a Skye terrier who maintained a vigil over
the grave of his master, an Edinburgh
police officer, from 1858 to 1872. There are services conducted in Gaelic every
Sunday at 12:30 PM.
Holyrood Park
Holyrood Park
is former hunting grounds of Scottish monarchs, covering a square mile of
varied landscape, including hills, moorland, lochs and fields. It is a little
bit of untouched wilderness close to the city.
The highest point is Arthur's Seat, measuring at 823 feet, an eroded
stump of lava flow that erupted around 325 million years ago. It forms part of
a volcano that includes Calton Hill and Castle Rock.
Museum of Scotland
Opened in 1998, the five floors of the museum trace the
history of Scotland
from its geological beginnings to the 1990s. The first floor depicts the
beginnings of the land now known as Scotland,
with an emphasis on the landscape and wildlife. The second floor explores how
the early peoples of Scotland
lived, from 6000 BC to 1100 AD. The third floor covers the Kingdom of the Scots
until 1707 and the Act of Union. The fourth floor covers Scotland
of the 18th and early 19th centuries, including the
Jacobite risings and the Scottish Enlightenment. The fifth floor covers the
history of Scotland
to the beginnings of the 20th Century.