Chronic overcrowding and rapid development made 16th & 17th century Edinburgh a city of tall tenement blocks and dark brooding alleyways, two of these alleyways have recently been uncovered and opened to the public to give a fascinating insight into the city's past.
Marlin's Wynd was built in 1532 and is believed to have been the first paved street in the City, and its paver John Marlin was so proud of it that he had himself buried underneath after his death, but it did not last long. The upper half was covered over in 1637 with the building of the Tron Kirk and the lower half was demolished in 1786 to allow for the construction of the south bridge. All was not lost however and when the floor of the Tron Kirk was taken up in 1970 the cobbles and foundations of the ancient through fare were uncovered. The Kirk now houses the Old Town Information Centre and these remnants are visible inside.
Mary King's Close which stood on the other side of the Royal Mile has a far more salubrious history, the close found its place in infamy when an outbreak of the plague in 1645 led the city authorities to brick up the close with its inhabitants still inside, when the close was opened again two months later all its inhabitants were not surprisingly dead and council workers were sent in to hack up the bodies and hall them away in carts. After that people were reluctant to live there and those that did venture in were scared away by visions of ghostly body parts.
In 1754 the upper end of the close was covered up by the construction of the Royal Exchange and in 1845 the crumbling lower end was bricked up for the last time. The old street and its buildings still exist there though completely forgotten by the public until Mercat Tours (0131 225 6591) started running visits to this old street. The tour is unmissable and leads through the old building that have been used as bomb shelters and council store rooms through the intervening centuries and includes the macabre highlight of Sarah's room, a room filled with dolls left by tourists over the years to appease the ghost of a young girl.
These two preserved streets give one an eerily authentic feel to what life must have been like in this old city during the 16th & 17th centuries and while it's not exactly a pleasant feeling it is one that you should not miss out on.