The Old Town has preserved its medieval plan and many Reformation-era buildings. One end is closed by the castle and the main artery, the Royal Mile, leads away from it; minor streets (called closes or wynds) lead downhill on either side of the main spine in a herringbone pattern. Large squares mark the location of markets or surround public buildings such as St. Giles' Cathedral and the Law Courts. Other notable places nearby include the Royal Museum of Scotland, Surgeons' Hall and McEwan Hall. The street layout is typical of the old quarters of many northern European cities, and where the castle perches on top of a rocky crag (the remnants of an extinct volcano) the Royal Mile runs down the crest of a ridge from it. Due to space restrictions imposed by the narrowness of the "tail", the Old Town became home to some of the earliest "high rise" residential buildings. Multi-storey dwellings known as lands were the norm from the 1500s onwards with ten and eleven stories being typical and one even reaching fourteen stories. Additionally, numerous vaults below street level were inhabited to accommodate the influx of (mainly Irish) immigrants during the Industrial Revolution. These continue to fuel legends of an underground city to this day. Today there are tours of Edinburgh which take you into the underground city, Edinburgh Vaults
Hospitals in Edinburgh include the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, which includes Edinburgh University Medical School, and the Western General Hospital, which includes a large cancer treatment centre. There is one private hospital, Murrayfield Hospital, owned by Spire Healthcare. The Royal Infirmary is the main Accident & Emergency hospital not just for Edinburgh but also Midlothian and East Lothian, and is the headquarters of NHS Lothian, making it a centric focus for Edinburgh and its hinterland. The Royal Edinburgh Hospital specialises in mental health, it is situated in Morningside. The Royal Hospital for Sick Children is located in Sciennes Road; it is popularly known as the 'Sick Kids'.
Officials estimate that in the last ten months by about 400 percent increase in the number of Polish citizens living in Edinburgh. The district with the highest density of Polonia (especially the one I came to Scotland after Poland's accession to the EU in 2004.) Is Leith. At present, the Poles in Edinburgh ubywa ai also scattered around the city. Popular once Leith if pustoszeje. What remains is a lot of Polish shops, but the office responsible for legal assistance to the Poles are in crisis. One could therefore ask the Poles still are. But Polonia this increasingly wtapia multinational community in Edinburgh becoming just another shade of the city but no longer a compact island.
* Scotish City Link connects almost all major towns in Scotland with each other. * Megabus connects Edinburgh with some major cities in Britain. Who posts on the Internet, even for German unbeatable prices feet wet conditions. Examples: Edinburgh-Glasgow journey time about 1 hour, Price 1-2 pounds! Edinburgh-Inverness journey ca.3 1 / 2 hours, Price ca.7 pounds! The very large bus station on St. Andrews Sq. is somewhat hidden in a courtyard blocks. Those who travel by bus, you should be previously informed about his situation. | |
| » |
The origin of the city's name in English is understood to come from the Brythonic Din Eidyn (Fort of Eidyn) from the time when it was a Gododdin hillfort. In the 1st century the Romans recorded the Votadini as a Brythonic tribe in the area, and about AD 600 the poem Y Gododdin, using the Brythonic form of that name, describes warriors feasting "in Eidin's great hall".
It came to be known to the English, the Bernician Angles, as Edin-burh, which some people once believed derived from the Old English for "Edwin's fort", with a reference to the 7th century king Edwin of Northumbria. However, since the name apparently predates King Edwin, this is highly unlikely. The burgh element means "fortress" or "walled group of buildings", i.e. a town or city and is akin to the German burg, Latin parcus, Greek πύργος (pyrgos) etc. Burh is simply a translation of Brythonic Din; Edin is untranslated.
Edinburgh started as a fort named Castle Rock (an easily defended position). However, in the 7th century, England captured this location and named it Eiden's burgh (burgh is an old word for fort). In the 10th century, the Scots again recaptured this position. Then in the 12th century a small town flourished called Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, is its second largest city after Glasgow which is situated 45 miles (72 km) to the west, is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom.
Located in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh lies on the east coast of Scotland's Central Belt, along the Firth of Forth, near the North Sea. Owing to its rugged setting and vast collection of Medieval and Georgian architecture, including numerous stone tenements, it is often considered one of the most picturesque cities in Europe.
It forms the City of Edinburgh council area; the city council area includes urban Edinburgh and a 30-square-mile (78 km²) rural area.
