Portal:Edinburgh

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Edinburgh (/ˈɛdɪnbərə/ (About this soundlisten); Scots: Edinburgh; Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann [ˈt̪uːn ˈeːtʲən̪ˠ]) is the capital of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the Firth of Forth's southern shore.

Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament and the supreme courts of Scotland. The city's Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. The city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, literature, philosophy, the sciences and engineering. It is the second largest financial centre in the United Kingdom (after London) and the city's historical and cultural attractions have made it the United Kingdom's second most popular tourist destination attracting 1.75 million visits from overseas in 2016.

Edinburgh is Scotland's second most populous city and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The official population estimates are 488,050 (2016) for the Locality of Edinburgh (Edinburgh pre 1975 regionalisation plus Currie and Balerno), 518,500 (2018) for the City of Edinburgh, and 1,339,380 (2014) for the city region. Edinburgh lies at the heart of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland city region comprising East Lothian, Edinburgh, Fife, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian.

Selected location article

The west façade of the building

St Giles' Cathedral, or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland located in the Old Town of Edinburgh.

Likely founded in the 12th century and dedicated to Saint Giles, the church was elevated to collegiate status by Pope Paul II in 1467. In 1559, the church became Protestant with John Knox, the foremost figure of the Scottish Reformation, as its minister. After the Reformation, St Giles' was internally partitioned to serve multiple congregations as well as secular purposes, including as a prison, and as meeting places for the Court of Session and the Parliament of Scotland. During periods of episcopacy within the Church of Scotland, St Giles' briefly served as a cathedral in the 17th century. In 1637, a riot at St Giles' against the religious reforms of Charles I precipitated the formation of the Covenanters and the beginnings of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In the 19th century, St Giles' was restored and the internal partitions were removed. Read more...

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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. Read more...

Selected environment article

The Water of Leith, upriver from the Dean Village, running through a wooded gorge past the New Town.

The Water of Leith is the main river flowing through Edinburgh, Scotland, to the port of Leith where it flows into the sea via the Firth of Forth. Read more...

Selected arts article

Portrait of William Henry Playfair

William Henry Playfair FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was one of the greatest Scottish architects of the 19th century, designer of the Eastern, or Third, New Town and many of Edinburgh's neoclassical landmarks. Read more...

Selected religion article

Façade of the mosque

Edinburgh Central Mosque (officially known as the King Fahd Mosque and Islamic Centre of Edinburgh) is located on Potterrow near the University of Edinburgh central area and the National Museum of Scotland. The mosque and Islamic centre was designed by Dr. Basil Al Bayati, and took more than six years to complete at a cost of £3.5M. The main hall can hold over one thousand worshippers, with women praying on a balcony overlooking the hall. The mosque holds chandeliers and a vast carpet, with very little furniture.

The architecture combines traditional Islamic features with some Scots baronial style. Read more...

Selected sports article

Tynecastle Park, January 2018.jpg

Tynecastle Park is a football stadium situated in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian ("Hearts"). It has also hosted Scotland international matches, and been used as a neutral venue for Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup semi-finals. Tynecastle has a seating capacity of 19,852, which makes it the sixth-largest football stadium in Scotland. Hearts have played at the present site of Tynecastle since 1886. Read more...

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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. Read more...

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This page was last updated at 2020-03-26 18:03 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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