t Granite buildings of Union Street, Aberdeen’s main thoroughfare

Experience Central and Northeast Scotland

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The twin granite towers of this 15th-century cathedral, dedicated to Aberdeen’s patron saint, rise above the Old Aberdeen skyline to pinpoint St Machar’s Cathedral. Stained-glass windows light the interior, depicting the 6th-century saint and the cathedral’s earliest bishops.

Founded in 1495, King’s College was the city’s first university. The visitor centre gives background on its long history. The chapel has a distinctive lantern tower, rebuilt in 1633. Douglas Strachan’s stained-glass windows add a modern touch to the interior, where a 1540 pulpit is carved with heads of Stuart monarchs.

t Student cycling along cobbled lanes of Kings College campus

The Mother Church of the Episcopal Church in the United States, St Andrew’s has a memorial to Samuel Seabury, the first Episcopalian bishop in the US, who was consecrated in Aberdeen in 1784. Coats of arms repres-enting the American states and Jacobite families contrast with the white interior.

Overlooking the harbour is Provost Ross’s house, which dates back to 1593. It now houses the Maritime Museum, which traces the history of Aberdeen’s seafaring tradition from medieval times to the offshore oil boom during the 1970s. The exhibitions cover numerous topics from shipbuilding, shipwrecks, rescues and oil excavation.

Founded in the 12th century and rebuilt in 1752, St Nicholas Kirk is Scotland’s largest parish church. Many ancient relics can be seen inside. including iron rings which were used to secure women accused of witchcraft in the 17th century.

This landmark art gallery’s collection of works by British artists including Raeburn, Reynolds, Hogarth, Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer and Francis Bacon, and by Monet, Renoir, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec, may once again be viewed when a long-delayed redevelopment is completed.

Experience Central and Northeast Scotland

This 16th-century house is one of the city’s most historic buildings. It is temporarily closed due to the Marischal Square redevelopment.

The world’s second-largest granite building (narrowly loosing out to the Escorial in Spain for the top spot), Marischal College was founded in 1593 by the fifth Earl Marischal of Scotland as a Protestant alternative to King’s College. It’s austere façade, a symbol of the “Granite City”, now houses Aberdeenshire Council’s headquarters.