Whisky, Wars, and Highlanders

Four ancient streets, stretching from Castlehill Street to Canongate, comprise this mile-long walk, featuring most of the highlights of any trip to Edinburgh. Let us start our walk at the Tolbooth Kirk, the church which has the city’s highest spire and was built in 1840. Right next to it there is the Scotch Whisky Centre – a must for anyone interested in traditional Scotland. Then we pass the Outlook Tower, which you can climb (for a reasonable fee) to get to the observatory which offers some of the best views of Edinburgh.

Lawnmarket Street brings us to some more architectural gems, including Gladstone’s land, which is a 17th-century merchant’s house, and Lay Stair’s House, now a museum on the lives and writing careers of the famous Scottish writers Stevenson, Scott, and Burns. If you make a written application, you can visit Signet Library and view its lavish interiors; otherwise, you’ll have to content yourselves with barely an outside view. Lawnmarket becomes High Street, and that is where one can find the St. Giles Cathedral, with the somewhat funny figure depicting an angel playing bagpipes, and the City Chambers, built by john Adams in the mid-18th century. There is also the Mercat Cross, which is the place where Bonnie Prince Charlie was declared king in the 18th century, and is considered to be the center of Edinburgh. Further down the line is the austere Tron Kirk, which was built for the Presbyterians in 1630.

The last part of the walk is Canongate. Moubray House was declared the signing place of the Treaty of the Union, until a new place had to be searched for, because of the angry mob who wanted to sabotage the Treaty. Then comes a real gem – John Knox’s House, which is the oldest house in Edinburgh, built in 1490. John Knox’s museum is housed in the building, with a few pieces of memorabilia featured, and is open daily. Museum of Childhood and Morocco Land (which got its exotic name from a statue of a Moor at the entrance) tenement house complete the lineup.

It is one of the biggest ironies of history that the High Church (which is known in Scotland as Kirk) should be known as St. Giles Cathedral. Because this was the place where John Knox directed the Scottish Reformation from, although it is true that the church has twice been a bishop's seat in the 17th century.

Architecturally this is a large Gothic building, dating back to the Middle Ages. The cathedral is constructed in the form of a large cross, dominated by a 15th-century tower with a dome and numerous Gothic spires, including an open one with eight flying buttresses. The tower and its decorations miraculously escaped renovation in the 19th century, the same that significantly altered the look of the High Church. What you should really look out for is the Thistle Chapel, built in the year 1911 and named just as the national flower of Scotland is. The most impressive sight is the rib-vaulting on the ceiling and the canopies covered with carvings of heraldic signs. The signs honor the knights who were, over the ages, granted one of the most prestigious titles of Scotland - that of the Knight of the Order of the Thistle. Another interesting detail, for which the Thistle Chapel is justly famous, is the little figure of a bag piping angel, which you can see at the entrance to the Chapel.

Among other famous sights of the St. Giles Cathedral is the intricately carved wooden pew in the Preston Aisle, which the British Sovereign uses when she is staying in Edinburgh at the Holyrood Palace.

Next to the Cathedral, you can find two other interesting sights: the Heart of Midlothian, which marks the place where Edinburgh City Jail once stood, and the fine, though rather traditionally designed, horseback statue of King Charles II.