Calton Hill
Edinburgh
Calton Hill is a green hill to the east of the centre of Edinburgh. At the top there are monuments in classical style and one of the most famous views of the city.
A hill above the city
Calton Hill rises at the east end of Princes Street. From the top you can see the castle, Arthur's Seat and the Old Town. Your gaze reaches as far as the port of Leith and the Firth of Forth. This view appears in many old paintings and engravings of the city.
Buildings like temples
In the 1800s Edinburgh wanted to look like the great cities of the ancient world. Buildings with columns and pediments, like temples, rose on the hill. The most famous has twelve columns: it was begun in 1826 and never finished, because the money ran out. But locals like it just as it is, unfinished.
Stars and exact time
The City Observatory was built in 1818 by William Henry Playfair. Astronomers watched the stars so that they always knew the exact time. The time-signal tower, finished in 1816, helped ships on the Firth of Forth to know the exact time.
A little temple for a professor
The little round temple with nine columns is by Playfair and was finished in 1831. It is named after Dugald Stewart, a professor at the University of Edinburgh and a great speaker.
