The Gatehouse at the entrance to the Old Calton Burial Ground features a distinctive pair of heavy, iron-studded wooden doors set into a classical stone arch. Built in eighteen twenty-seven, this structure was meant to guard the dead…
Jacobite Rebellion Sites
Follow the footprints of the 1745 Jacobite rising down the Royal Mile, from the gates of Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. You'll see where Bonnie Prince Charlie held court, how highlanders breached the city gates, and where prisoners of war were held.
Listen to this tour in the Mira app →
1. The Gatehouse
2. Gladstone's Land (National Trust for Scotland)
The narrow, six-story stone tenement on the Royal Mile wears a painted seventeenth-century facade that distinguishes it from the surrounding gray masonry. Thomas Gledstanes, a wealthy merchant, purchased the structure in sixteen seventeen…
3. Mercat Cross
The Mercat Cross in Edinburgh is a tall, octagonal stone structure topped by a stone unicorn carrying a shield. It sits near the high street as a royal landmark where public proclamations were read for centuries. When Charles the Second…
4. Nether Bow Plaque
A small brass plaque marks the cobblestones here, tracing the outline of a gate that once divided Edinburgh from the independent burgh of Canongate. This was the Netherbow Port. For centuries, it served as the city’s defensive boundary and…
5. Canongate Tolbooth
The Canongate Tolbooth rises above the Royal Mile with its distinct, crenelated tower and a prominent clock face jutting out over the sidewalk. Built in fifteen ninety-one, this stone structure served as the administrative heart of the…
6. White Horse Close
White Horse Close features a steep, cobblestone courtyard framed by crow-stepped gables and external stone stairs. It served as a staging post for travelers arriving in Edinburgh by coach in the seventeenth century. The White Horse Inn…
7. Abbey Strand
Abbey Strand is a short, cobbled street that leads directly toward the gatehouse of Holyrood Palace. For centuries, this pavement marked the boundary of a protected sanctuary. Debtors fleeing their creditors crossed into this area to gain…