Edinburgh Architecture – New Town

st-colme-street

forres street

These are two views of buildings in what is called New Town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Edinburgh.

New Town was built in stages between 1765 and the middle of the 1800s.

Wandering around the streets, you can see neo-classical and Georgian period architecture all around.

And New Town isn’t just a couple of streets – there is street after street of this gorgeous architecture.

Don’t Miss This If You Are In Edinburgh

If you are visiting Edinburgh – perhaps for the Edinburgh Festivals, just walk north from Princess street, across George Street and across Queen Street and then start roaming.

Prepare to be amazed at such an extensive layout of streets and buildings from a bygone era.

The reason that the area is called New Town is that the older part of Edinburgh (not surprisingly, called Old Town) is to the south, across what was a loch and is now the valley through which runs the railway line.

The choice for the developer in the 1700s was to build even further south or to start on the north side of the loch.

The developer chose to build on the north side of the loch, but the problem was how to connect the two halves of the city.

The solution was to use the earth that was taken out for the foundations of the new houses, and fill in a roadway across the loch.

Princes Street and The Mound

The Scottish Royal Academy and the Scottish National Gallery buildings are built on that excavated earth on what is called the Mound.

Here is a shot from the steps on the Mound.

We are looking towards Princes Street. You can see the Scottish National Gallery, and hidden behind it and fronting onto Princes Street is the Royal Scottish Academy – an equally fine building.

scottish-national-gallery