We started our next walk around Edinburgh from the Royal Mile street closest to the Palace of Holyrood called Canongate.
Canongate appeared when Holyrood Abbey was founded in Edinburgh, and the surrounding territories were given away for the settlement of canonical monks. From the 12th century, Canongate was a free city, bordering on Edinburgh, and only in the middle of the 19th century did they unite. Before that, there were huge gates on the border through which one could get into Edinburgh. In the last century, Canongate was greatly modernized, old houses were renovated.
Now it houses many educational institutions, the Edinburgh Museum, government buildings.
We see an unusual building with a clock tower - this is Tolbus. It was built at the end of the 16th century and housed all city services: city council, tax office and prison. Witches and sorcerers have always been believed in Edinburgh, and special attention was paid to protection from witchcraft and the evil eye. In some courtyards, mountain ash was specially planted, which was considered a tree that protects from evil spirits.
On Tolbus, on the one hand, we see shells on the walls. They were also considered a talisman against witches. The townspeople believed that witches were afraid of water, and shells were just a symbol of the water element. Currently, the Tolbus building houses a museum of folk life, where you can see how the inhabitants of Canongate lived, worked and rested since the 18th century.
Just behind Tolbus, among the flowering trees, we see the Canongate Church.
At the very end of the street is the modern building of the Scottish Parliament. It is known that after the unification of England and Scotland, the British Parliament began to rule the kingdom. However, all these years the Scots have been actively advocating to create their own representative body. And in the late 90s. last century, they were finally allowed to do so. Then they began to choose a place for a new government building.
As a result, it appeared on a site near the Old City and Holyrood Palace. The complex of modern buildings organically fit into the old buildings. The author of the project was a Catalan architect; it is not for nothing that the smooth lines resemble the creations of Gaudí in Barcelona. However, colors and materials were used more calm, as a result, the complex of buildings is similar in outline to a ship. A cozy square with benches for rest was laid out in front of the parliament. Later we found out that any visitor can see the building for free, and at certain times there are guided tours for groups.
Against modern building House of Parliament is the Palace of Holyrood, which is the residence of the Queen in Scotland. In the summer, she always stays here for at least a week and arranges various receptions.
According to legend, King David I of Scotland met an angry deer while hunting, who tried to attack him. Then, as if by magic, a luminous cross appeared between the horns and the animal evaporated. King in honor of his miraculous salvation founded in the local forests Holyrood Abbey, dedicated to the Holy Cross. A small hotel was built for monarchs coming to religious services. In the 16th century, instead of guest house they begin to build a full-fledged palace, in which the royal family moves from Edinburgh Castle.
The left tower of the palace is one of the oldest. It was in it that the chambers of the famous Scottish Queen Mary Stuart were located.
After listening to the story of the audio guide, we learned about the tragic turns in the fate of the queen. Mary Stuart was the only legitimate surviving child of the Scottish King James V and the noble French aristocrat Mary of Guise. Her father died when Mary was still an infant, and the girl was soon crowned Queen of Scotland. At the age of five, she was engaged to the heir to the French throne and sent to France. There, at the age of 17, Mary Stuart became the French queen, but at the same time she was considered a possible contender for the English throne.
Her husband died shortly after the wedding, and Mary Stuart returned to Scotland. At this time, the nobility in the country was divided into those who wanted rapprochement with England, and those who supported the queen, who was friends with France and other Catholic countries.
Mary Stuart settled in Holyrood Palace and organized a kind of secular life at court here.
Balls and masquerades were held in the palace, the Louvre orders were transferred to Holyrood. Soon, a very young queen married her cousin Henry Stuart. However, her feelings for her husband cooled very quickly, which could not but cause her husband's displeasure. One evening, Henry and his friends broke into the chambers of his pregnant wife, where she was having dinner with her secretary, David Riccio. Men in front of Mary Stuart brutally killed an Italian.
During the tour, we saw the very rooms in which this crime took place. Relations between the spouses were completely upset, and even the birth of an heir did not help cement such a fragile marriage. Maria fell in love with another lord and even began to think about a divorce. Once upon a time, the corpse of Henry Stuart was found on an estate near Edinburgh. Immediately there were rumors about the involvement in the murder of Mary Stuart, who wanted to marry a new lover. The lords revolted, and the queen had to flee to England and ask for protection from her eternal rival Elizabeth I. Mary's mistake was that she did not want to give up her claims to the English throne.
For this, Elizabeth, who was afraid of her, settled Mary Stuart in Sheffield Castle, where the Scottish queen was actually under arrest. Later, letters from Mary Stuart were intercepted, where she allegedly incited supporters of Catholicism to kill Elizabeth. For this she was tried and later executed. In general, the fate of the Scottish queen turned out to be very sad: living in luxury from an early age, already at the age of twenty-five she was imprisoned, which lasted almost twenty years, after which she was executed. The Queen's personal items and even a lock of her blond hair have been preserved in the Palace of Holyrood. In the 17th century, for symmetry, the right tower of the palace was built and the royal chambers were completed.
In the following century, the roof of Holyrood Abbey collapsed and was never rebuilt.
The very picturesque ruins of the temple, where many Scottish monarchs were crowned, married and buried, have survived to this day.
In Holyrood Palace we also visited the portrait gallery with the faces of all Scottish kings, saw weapons and antique furniture.
The palace seemed very elegant and cozy to us. There are not many tourists inside.
This was especially pleasing at the end of the tour, when we went out into the wonderful park surrounding the palace. In April, numerous plants bloomed here, birds sang, and Holyrood seemed to us an unusually beautiful and secluded place.
The park offers stunning views of the hills and Arthur's Seat.
Holyrood Palace is not only a unique historical site, but also one of the the most beautiful places in Edinburgh, a must visit.
useful links
Hotels in Edinburgh: booking and reviews
Hotels in Scotland
We went to Holyrood Park. Once upon a time, the site of the park was a royal hunting ground. The name of the place "Holy Cross" is also connected with hunting. King David I of Scotland was knocked off his horse by a deer while hunting. The dangerous animal had already set its horns on the defenseless king, but then a luminous cross miraculously appeared between the antlers of the deer, which scared away the devilish artiodactyl. Later, the kings surrounded the entire park with a stone wall so that commoners could not interfere with hunting. Now access to Holyrood is free, which we took advantage of.
As you know, I'm not a big fan of parks. Usually I leave them at the very end of the walk, and then, if there is enough time. But for Holyrood Park, I made an exception. Still, the nature of Scotland is the main attraction of the country, and here is a great chance to get to know it without leaving the city. From Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Park, the distance is less than 2 km, and from the Royal Palace and just a stone's throw. The word park evokes thoughts of a boring place with alleys, a pond with swans and some kind of gazebo. By no means! Holyrood Park - it's harsh rocks, mountain landscapes and even the crater of a real, albeit extinct volcano.
Edinburgh sightseeing map.
In previous stories about Edinburgh, I have repeatedly shown views of the Salisbury Rocks. The Salisbury Crags are a 46-meter range of cliffs atop a spur of Arthur's Seat that rise to the west of Holyrood Park. Beneath the cliffs is a large and steep rocky slope dropping to the bottom of Holyrood Park with a track known as the Radical Road running between them. This path got its name after it was paved after the radical (radicals - supporters of the French Revolution) war of 1820 using the labor of unemployed weavers from the west of Scotland.
The name of Salisbury is well known to every resident of the Russian Federation thanks to a recent spy story. But this has nothing to do with Edinburgh. Salisbury here is not entirely clear where it came from, someone believes that in honor of the Earl of Salisbury, someone translates it as "desert or dry place". ancient name in Gaelic it meant "Rock of the Dead".
So let's start the climb. We go around the quaint building of the Parliament of Scotland.
Supporters of Scottish independence have set up their camp next to it. However, the referendum showed that the Scots like to live with the British in one country.
Road of the Radicals. The Scottish Radical Revolt came about as a result of social unrest by workers. They considered unfair working and living conditions created by the government. On Monday 3 April 1820, a national strike broke out in Glasgow, during which protest leaders across the country were arrested and some were executed or taken to the colonies. After King George IV's visit to the city, author Sir Walter Scott suggested that unemployed weavers could be used to construct a convenient footpath around the route. In this way, they can be distracted from the unrest and let them earn some money.
The view from Edinburgh's Radical Road is magnificent. As an added bonus for those with a fear of heights, the road is safer for animals or small children as it's not as high as Salisbury Rocks.
The views are really good. Parliament again, and in the background the Nelson Monument (spyglass) and the National Monument on Calton Hill.
And here in the foreground is another one of my omissions in Edinburgh - the very cool center of Our Dynamic Earth. I love, as a rule in Europe they are well made and interesting for any age.
As Maxim Gorky wrote: "My grandmother and I went further and further into the forest."
Luda and Vitya send us greetings from Russia.
The road is laid away from the rocks, because something heavy can fly over the head.
I am absolutely indifferent to geology, but if you are an amateur, it will be interesting. Several times while walking through the park, I came across signs describing the rock that comes to the surface and its approximate age.
Diman is my traveling companion in 2014-2016. The first time we went together to . Actually, I was in a relationship at the time, but by that time I realized that my ex and I were incompatible in terms of travel. So, I confess, I was even delighted when she blunted with work and could not go. Replacement was found in the face of my old friend. He ended up becoming so enamored with my approach to travel that after this spontaneous experience he became my frequent travel companion for the next two years.
Sign: "Climbing the rocks is prohibited."
The coolest part of Holyrood Park is Arthur's Seat. Throne of Arthur (Arthur's Seat) - highest point park (250.5 m). When it was a volcano (340 million years ago), the largest of the three within Edinburgh. The other two are Calton Hill and the hill on which Edinburgh Castle stands.
This mountain with two peaks resembles a recumbent lion from some angles and is one of the main contenders for the place where the legendary Camelot of King Arthur was located. It is said that Arthur's Seat was once surrounded by water and was a magical island called Avallon. And at its top was the legendary castle of Camelot.
According to legend, the mortally wounded Arthur was brought here, and he still lives somewhere there, waiting for the hour when he can again enter our world and show his valor and honor. And so that no one would disturb the king, Merlin hid the magical Avallon from human eyes, leaving people with a wonderful hill called Arthur's Throne.
In a good way, it would be necessary to climb the Throne of Arthur, since the ascent there is quite simple, but we decided to limit ourselves to the cliffs of Salisbury.
No wonder Holyrood Park was once a hunting ground. Until now, game is running around here. Here's a pheasant, for example.
Mid-June, and in some places the colors are almost autumn. The comments suggested that this is a gorse.
Some more views of the Old City.
And the Palace of Holyrood.
Once again, I draw your attention to the fact that the trip was in mid-June. As you can see, my friend is dressed quite warmly. Moreover, on this day we had to shop a little, because. +10 in rain and wind, we clearly did not expect. So Diman bought a stupid warm cap and a tartan scarf. If you are going to Scotland - dress to the maximum.
And I tucked in a souvenir sweatshirt. In my opinion, the only photo of me during the whole trip.
Guess which way we started going down?
Well, how do you like Holyrood Park? In my opinion, a must-visit place in Edinburgh, even if you have to sacrifice something else. This despite the fact that we did not have time to climb the Throne of Arthur, did not reach the picturesque ruins of the abbey and the local sucker, that is, the lake.
This is my last story about Edinburgh and Great Britain. In general, I really liked Edinburgh, with the proviso that it is interesting here in terms of tourism. Still too cold and gloomy in my opinion for a long stay. Perhaps it was in Edinburgh that I felt the most acute lack of time on this trip. Two days in the capital of Scotland is extremely short. So I do not pretend to be a complete report on the city. I did not even have time to go around all the sights, not to mention visiting museums, churches and interesting places sort of like a dead end Mary King. But I hope my short review city will allow you to form an opinion about it when preparing or to remind you of a past pleasant trip.
In the next episode, we will fly over the North Strait and find ourselves on emerald isle. I think everyone guessed what kind of country it is, so see you in Dublin.
Holyrood Palace is the official residence of the British Queen in Scotland, where state ceremonies and official receptions take place. The palace is located in the center of the capital on main street- The Royal Mile, at the other end of which is located.
Myths and facts
The legend tells how King David was hunting in the forest when he was attacked by a deer. At that moment, a silver cloud appeared in the sky, from which a luminous cross emerged. The deer immediately ran away, and King David, in confirmation of this miracle, founded the monastery of the Holy Cross in 1128.
The monastery prospered and Edinburgh became the capital. The royal family decided to move from the gloomy Edinburgh castle on the rock to the cozy Holyrood, surrounded by a beautiful park. In 1501, James IV built next to Holyrood Priory. Only a fragment of the gatehouse from this building has survived to this day.
Mary spent most of her turbulent life at Holyrood Palace. Here she married two of her husbands, and Rizzio's private secretary was killed by her jealous husband.
Further reconstruction was carried out in 1633 on the occasion of the coronation of the Scottish prince Charles James I. During the Civil War, the troops of Oliver Cromwell were quartered in the palace, which caused significant damage and led to a fire.
The new King of Scotland, Charles II, initiated a substantial rebuilding of Holyrood in the 1670s. The palace was completely restored and transformed into a quadrangle by the architect William Bruce. For the symmetry of the façade, the right tower was added and the new Royal Apartments were built with richly decorated rooms. Charles II, who never visited Holyrood Palace, built it as a private residence for his brother James, Duke of York. When the duke came to the throne, he adapted the royal chapels for the rites of the Order of the Thistle, the oldest order of chivalry in Scotland.
After the unification of Scotland and England in 1707, the palace lost its main significance and fell into disrepair.
Only at the beginning of the 19th century, after the visit of George IV, the fifth king of Great Britain, funds were allocated for the restoration of Holyrood. George IV ordered that Queen Mary's rooms be "protected against any future changes" and also ordered that the palace be used during the Assembly (a tradition that continues today).
In 1920, Holyrood Palace was declared the official residence of the monarchs in Scotland and became the site of regular royal ceremonies and events. During the absence of the royal family, the palace is open to the public.
What to see
The entrance to the palace is through the 17th-century Baroque Grand Staircase, with exquisite ceiling moldings depicting angels holding Scottish regalia. Italian wall painting from the 16th century illustrates scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Next is the richly decorated Royal Dining Room and Throne Room, where George IV was crowned.
The most impressive are the private chambers of Mary Stuart. It houses many antiques, valuable paintings and tapestries. The rooms are decorated with rich finishes and decorative details.
In a spacious art gallery portraits of 110 Scottish monarchs hang on the walls. The gallery also contains exhibits of works of art from the private collection of the royal family.
The exposition dedicated to the Order of the Thistle presents a collection of awards that were awarded to Scots who held important public positions or made a special contribution.
Near the palace you can see the ruins of an ancient monastery - the first building in Holyrood. The buildings are surrounded by beautiful gardens.
What else to see in Scotland: the cathedral in Edinburgh, castles in Dundee and.
Holyrood Palace is open daily from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm from April to October and until 4:30 pm from November to March. Closed December 25-26 and on visiting days of the royal family.
Cost: £10.75 (includes audio tour), students £9.80, children under 17 £6.50.
* You can get there by train (station 15 minutes walk), or buses No. 35, 36 (stop next to the palace).
** To ensure safety, a one-way route is provided inside the complex.
*** It is forbidden to take pictures inside the palace and bring drinks and food (drinks can be ordered at the cafe in the courtyard of the stables).
Official site:
- Tours for May to the UK
- Hot tours to the UK
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This palace is the official residence in Scotland of Her Majesty the Queen. Holyroodhouse, built in the Baroque style, is located on the famous Royal Mile. The palace, like many old buildings in Edinburgh, is closely connected with the history of Scotland.
Holyroodhouse is known, first of all, for the fact that the Scottish Queen Mary lived here. It was a turbulent reign, accompanied by conspiracies and murders. For example, Mary saw how in her chambers the jealous husband Lord Darnley killed the royal secretary Rizzio.
Today, state receptions are periodically held in the apartments with the participation of the queen and members of her family. In addition, the palace hosts exhibitions where you can learn more about the history of Scotland. So, here are important symbols - the mantle, which is worn during the knighting of the Order of the Thistle in the Cathedral of St. Giles in Edinburgh. This ceremony is usually attended by Queen Elizabeth II.
Address: EH8 8DX, Midlothian, Edinburgh, The Royal Mile, Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Opening hours: April - October: 09:30 - 18:00 (last entry at 16:30), November - March: 09:30 - 16:30 (entry until 15:15). The recommended visit time is at least 1 - 1.5 hours.
Entrance (with audio guide in Russian): 14 GBP, tourists over 60 and students (with a valid ID): 12.7 GBP, children under 17: 8.1 GBP, children under 5: free, family ticket (2 adults + 3 children under 17): 36.1 GBP.
Entrance to the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Royal Gallery (combined ticket): GBP 19.10, tourists over 60 and students (with a valid ID): GBP 17.90, children under 17: GBP 10.80, children under 5: free ; family ticket (2 adults + 3 children under 17): 49 GBP.
Prices on the page are for October 2018.
Holyrood Palace is the official residence of the British monarchs in Edinburgh. Its name comes from the distorted Haly Ruid - "Holy Cross". This was the name of the abbey of the Augustinian order founded on this place in 1128.
The palace has been the official royal residence for 600 years. 
The construction of the palace of Holyroodhouse was started in 1498 by James IV next to the abbey of the XII century (the ruins of which are still preserved). 
By the end of the 15th century, the inn at the abbey was transformed into the unofficial residence of the kings of Scotland. In 1498-1501. James IV built a Renaissance palace on the site of the hotel, which, as the importance of Edinburgh as the capital of Scotland grew, became the main royal palace. 
The unicorn has traditionally been included in many historical Scottish coats of arms (often in the form of a shield holder).
The historical coat of arms of Scotland is red on a golden field, with blue weapons (claws and tongue), a heraldic lion, around it a double red border sprouted with lilies. 
In the 16th century, Holyrood Palace was the residence of Mary Stuart, and the interiors of her chambers have survived to this day. In 1671-1679. the building was rebuilt by order of King Charles II. 
Abandoned for a long time, the palace was brought back to life by King George IV. 
There is a tradition that the Queen spends at least one week of the year at Holyroodhouse. Here the Queen appoints the First Minister of Scotland and conducts royal receptions. 
There is a wonderful garden around the palace. 
Holyrood Abbey of the Augustinian Order, founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland, has been actively used since the 15th century for coronations and weddings of royalty. 
In the 18th century the roof of the main building collapsed, and now the abbey is a well-restored ruin. 
The Palace of Holyroodhouse has the shape of a square - buildings on the sides of a square perimeter and a courtyard in the middle. 
True, you can notice this only by climbing Salisbury - a mountain towering next to the palace. 
Two double towers are attached to the facade of Holyrood Palace, giving Holyrood its own unique look. 
Holyrood Palace is a mile away from Edinburgh Castle. 
The halls of Holyrood Palace are decorated with alabaster stucco, frescoes by Dutch and Italian masters, and tapestries.
