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Portal:Edinburgh

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Edinburgh (/ˈɛdɪnbərə/ Scots: [ˈɛdɪnbʌrə]; Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann [ˌt̪un ˈeːtʲən̪ˠ]) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The city is located in south-east Scotland, and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth estuary and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in mid-2020, making it the second-most populous city in Scotland and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The wider metropolitan area has a population of 912,490.

Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament, the highest courts in Scotland, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. It is also the annual venue of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scottish law, literature, philosophy, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of three in the city, is considered one of the best research institutions in the world. It is the second-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom, the fourth largest in Europe, and the thirteenth largest internationally.

The city is a cultural centre, and is the home of institutions including the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery. The city is also known for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe, the latter being the world's largest annual international arts festival. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, and the extensive Georgian New Town built in the 18th/19th centuries. Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. The city's historical and cultural attractions have made it the UK's second-most visited tourist destination, attracting 4.9 million visits, including 2.4 million from overseas in 2018. (Full article...)

Selected location article

The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by architect C. J. Phipps at a cost of £17,000 on behalf of James B. Howard and Fred. W. P. Wyndham, two theatrical managers and performers whose partnership became the renowned Howard & Wyndham Ltd created in 1895 by Michael Simons of Glasgow.


With only four minor refurbishments, in 1929, 1977, 1991, and 1996, the Royal Lyceum remains one of the most original and unaltered of the architect's works. (Full article...)

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Selected transportation article

Various studies, from 1989 onwards, considered the reintroduction of trams to Edinburgh. In 2001, a proposal for a new Edinburgh Trams network envisaged three routes across the city, Lines 1, 2 and 3. Line 1 was a circular route running around the northern suburbs, with the other two forming radial lines running out to Newbridge in the west and to Newcraighall in the south respectively. All lines would run through the city centre.

Line 3 was later shelved due to lack of Scottish Parliament approval. Lines 1 and 2 were combined and split into three phases, with Phase 1 being further divided into Phase 1a and 1b. Phases 1b, 2 and 3 were not funded, and as of 2013 only a truncated section of the planned Phase 1a line (running from the airport to the city centre) has been constructed. (Full article...)

Selected area article

Wester Broom is a district of Edinburgh, Scotland. It borders Broomhouse/Forrester, Corstorphine and South Gyle. It is sometimes considered to be part of one of the latter two. It is mainly residential, with a few small shops and a large Tesco nearby. The Fife railway line is arguably the boundary, although some will extend it south to the Glasgow line, and to include Forresters and two schools. (Full article...)

Selected environment article

Arthur's Seat in Scotland

Arthur's Seat (Scottish Gaelic: Suidhe Artair, pronounced [ˈs̪ɯi.əˈaɾt̪ʰəɾʲ]) is an ancient extinct volcano which is the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland, which form most of Holyrood Park, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design". It is situated just to the east of the city centre, about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of Edinburgh Castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 250.5 m (822 ft), provides excellent panoramic views of the city and beyond, is relatively easy to climb, and is popular for hillwalking. Though it can be climbed from almost any direction, the easiest ascent is from the east, where a grassy slope rises above Dunsapie Loch. At a spur of the hill, Salisbury Crags has historically been a rock climbing venue with routes of various degrees of difficulty. Rock climbing was restricted to the South Quarry, but access was banned altogether in 2019 by Historic Environment Scotland. (Full article...)

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Selected arts article

The City of Edinburgh Music School (TCoEMS) is a state-maintained music school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded as the Lothian Specialist Music School in 1980, it changed its name in 1996 when Lothian Regional Council was dissolved into four separate unitary councils. It is a non-residential school, and because it is funded by the City of Edinburgh Council, it charges no fees. It is split between two schools; Flora Stevenson Primary School and Broughton High School. This allows for students to start in their first year of primary school and leave in their final year of high school. It acquired new premises in 2009 when a new section was added to Flora Stevenson Primary School and a new building was constructed for Broughton High School. Unlike some standalone music schools, pupils attend comprehensive schools for the majority of their academic classes.

The school became an 'All-Steinway School' in 2009, meaning that every piano within the school is of the Steinway brand. It was awarded a plaque in commemoration of this from Steinway & Sons on 21 July 2009. (Full article...)

Selected education article

Edinburgh Napier University (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Napier Dhùn Èideann) is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napier. The technical college was inaugurated as a university in 1992 by Lord Douglas-Hamilton, becoming Napier University. In 2009, the university was renamed Edinburgh Napier University.

The university is based around its three main Edinburgh campuses: Merchiston, Craiglockhart and Sighthill. It has over 19,500 students, including those on-campus in Scotland and others studying on transnational programmes abroad and online. In 2018 this included nearly 9,500 international and EU students, from more than 140 nations worldwide. (Full article...)

Selected sports article

Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football. Hearts, the oldest and most successful football club in the Scottish capital, was formed in 1874, its name influenced by Walter Scott's novel The Heart of Midlothian. The club crest is based on the Heart of Midlothian mosaic on the city's Royal Mile; the team's colours are maroon and white.

Hearts have played home matches at Tynecastle Park since 1886. After converting the ground into an all-seater stadium in 1990, it now has a capacity of 19,852 following the completion of a rebuilt main stand in 2017. They have training facilities at the Oriam, Scotland's national performance centre for sport, where they also run their youth academy. (Full article...)

Selected religion article

Shown within Edinburgh

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, also known as St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic church in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh and the mother church of Scots Catholicism. The cathedral church is located at the East End of New Town in the city center. (Full article...)

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