| Edinburgh Town Guide |
| The Royal Mile is the road that runs between the Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. One of the oldest streets in the city, it grew up as a vital thoroughfare between the two most important buildings in early Edinburgh, the Castle and Holyrood Abbey. The street is actually just over a mile long and is made up of four distinct sections: Castlehill, Lawnmarket, High Street and Canongate. Today the street is heavily commercial with tartan and shortbread shops a-plenty, but it is still a fascinating road with plenty of tourist attractions along the way so it should be high up on any visitor's agenda. |
 Branching off from the Royal Mile are numerous alleyways known as either "closes" or "wynds". A wynd is an alleyway that is open at both ends, whilst a close is one that is only open at one end. They are a remnant from Medieval Edinburgh when the whole city was a mass of confusing alleyways and they are still a central feature of the Old Town part of the city. As you wander along the Royal Mile you will also notice that the entrances to many closes and wynds have arches. These are known as "pends" and also add to the character of the road. |
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Starting from the Castle, the Royal Mile is reached by passing through the Esplanade. As you walk along it look out for the Witches Well drinking fountain which commemorates the 300 or so women who were found guilty of witchcraft and subsequently executed on this spot between 1479 and 1722. |
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The Esplanade then merges into Castlehill, with Ramsay Gardens bordering it. Also at the beginning of Castlehill is Cannonball House, so named after the ball that is wedged into one of its walls. Legend has it that this is a cannonball that was fired during an attack on the Castle in 1745! Tourist attractions on this stretch of the Royal Mile include the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre, the Edinburgh Weaving Centre, the Camera Obscura, and Tolbooth St John's Kirk. |
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The Castlehill section of the road then merges into the Lawnmarket. The name is derived from "Laon" which is where the city's linen used to be produced, for the Lawnmarket is where Edinburgh's linen market used to be held. The Lawnmarket part of the Royal Mile now contains some of the best preserved buildings in the Old Town, including the six-storey Gladstone's Land and Lady Stair's House. |
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However this section of the Royal Mile is probably best known for Parliament Square, which marks the junction between Lawnmarket and the High Street. This square is where several of Edinburgh's landmark buildings are located, for example Parliament House and the famous High Kirk of St Giles. |
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On the corner between Parliament Square and the High Street is the City Chambers, beneath which lies the curious tourist attraction Mary Kings Close. This is one of Edinburgh's most famous closes, notable for a gruesome event which occurred here in the 17th century. In 1645 the closes' residents fell victim to the plague and so, in an effort to contain the disease, city officials bricked up the entranceway to the alley leaving the residents inside to slowly perish. The close wasn't re-opened and was eventually built over. However it is now accessible again and has become a surprisingly popular tourist attraction with guided tours to take you round. |
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After the Lawnmarket the road then becomes the High Street. On this part of the Royal Mile you can visit the Edinburgh Old Town Renewal Trust to find out more about the Old Town, and there is a popular Brass Rubbing Centre nearby. Other tourist attractions on this section of the Royal Mile include Tron Kirk, the Museum of Childhood and John Knox's House. |
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The High Street then makes way for the final section of the Royal Mile, Canongate. This part of the road takes its name from the Canon's who used to live at Holyrood Abbey at this end of the Royal Mile. Much of the Canongate part of the Royal Mile was allowed to go into decline and at one time it had a dubious reputation, however the last 50 years have seen extensive restoration work so that today it is one of the most interesting parts of the Old Town. The main attractions in this part of the Royal Mile are Canongate Tolbooth, Canongate Kirk and the Huntly House Museum. And of course at the very end of the Royal Mile there is the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the surrounding Holyrood Park and the famous Queen Mary's Bath-house. |
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