Edinburgh has a lot to offer anyone who is interested in architecture, and the old town is quite unique. A wander down the narrow alleyways and lanes of the medieval town will reveal specialist shops, also cosy, intimate pubs that originate from another era. In the middle of the 1700’s more than 25,000 people lived and worked in this small area. Everyone, both rich and poor lived along what is called “The Golden Mile” but then the new city of Edinburgh was built and the wealthy moved there, leaving the poor to the old town.
Overcrowding prompted the construction of the very first multi-storey buildings so that there was room for everyone. The shops were on the ground floor and above them were offices, but the poorest people of all would live right at the top. Today, Edinburgh Old Town is designated as a World Heritage Site and many dilapidated buildings have been brought back to their former glory. There are still stories and legends about the ghosts that wander the closes and wynds (very narrow streets) around the town.
Things to see here include “The Royal Mile” which runs between Hollyrood Palace and Edinburgh Castle, and St. Giles’ Cathedral, with its unusual architecture and its historical connections to John Knox.
Greyfriars Kirkyard, which is a peaceful place, is said to be haunted by a poltergeist called Bloody Mackenzie. It is also linked to Greyfriars Bobby, the little Skye terrier that waited beside his master’s grave for fourteen years, and tales of Burke and Hare, the body snatchers seem all too real in the silence of the place.
This is just a tiny part of what Edinburgh Old Town has to offer; there is such a lot to discover.