t Sunset view from Calton Hill, with Dugald Stuart monument in the foreground

Experience Edinburgh

n Double-tap image to read the labels

Calton Hill is home to one of Edinburgh’s most memorable and baffling landmarks – a half-finished Greek-style Parthenon. Intended as a memorial to the Scottish soldiers and seamen of the French wars, construction of the National Monument began in 1822, only to run out of funding a few years later. The monument was never completed, and is now commonly referred to as “Edinburgh’s Disgrace”. A long-standing rumour has it that Glasgow City Council offered to pay for the monument’s completion on the condition that it boldly display Glasgow City’s official coat of arms. The offer was politely declined, and over the years public shame over its condition has given way to affection, and even a certain degree of pride.

t Tourists climbing the half-finished National Monument

For the ultimate view of Edinburgh, climb the breathtaking spiral stair to the battlements of this slender, multi-tiered tower, designed to resemble a telescope standing on its end. Built between 1807 and 1815, it is 32 metres (100 ft) high and commemorates Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. The bronze cannon near its foot is a trophy of Britain’s 19th-century conquest of Burma (Myanmar).

A quirky hybrid of mock-Gothic and Greek temple architecture, this distinctive dome was originally an astronomical observatory. In 2018, it reopened as Collective, an art gallery and exhibition space, complete with a purpose-built restaurant.

This eight-columned Corinthian rotunda, designed by the ubiquitous William Henry Playfair as a homage to the Classical Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, is one of Edinburgh’s most-photographed icons, appearing in innumerable snaps looking westward along Princes Street. Ironically, the philosopher Dugald Stewart (1753–1828) is far less well known than his memorial.

It seems that every town and city in Scotland has its own memorial to the country’s national bard. This modest mock-temple on the southern slope of Calton Hill, looking towards Arthur’s Seat, is Edinburgh’s. Begun in 1759, it was completed in 1796, the year of the poet’s death. Originally it held a white marble bust of Robert Burns, which has since been removed and relocated to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Also known as New Parliament House, The Royal High School was built during the 1820s on the Regent Road side of Calton Hill. Designed by Thomas Hamilton, it was based on the Temple of Theseus at Athens. Often cited as a possible home for a Scottish Parliament, the building was the focus for the Vigil for Scottish Democracy, which campaigned from 1992 to 1997 for self government. A discreet cairn marking this effort stands a little way east of the National Monument on Calton Hill. The cairn contains several “gift” stones, including one from Auschwitz to commemorate a Scottish missionary who died there.

The obelisk of the Martyrs’ Monument that towers over this ancient cemetery at the foot of Calton Hill was erected to honour members of the “Friends of the People”, democracy campaigners convicted of sedition in 1793 and exiled to the Botany Bay penal colony in Australia. Tombs and monuments around its foot include the grave of philosopher David Hume (1711–1776), while a statue of Abraham Lincoln commemorates Scottish soldiers who gave their lives during the American Civil War.

Experience Edinburgh