Edinburgh Castle

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View from Arthur's Seat
Esplanade and outer gate
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The Castle Edinburgh Castle is one of the main attractions of Scotland . The hilltop castle stands in the center of Edinburgh on Castle Rock .

Geology and first settlement

The Castle Rock is the basalt cone of an extinct volcano . This rock formation was formed around 340 million years ago when liquid magma oozed from the earth's interior for centuries. After the lava had cooled down, the cone was covered with sediments that were removed again by the ice ages. This is how the plateau was created, which is around 120 meters above sea level and around 80 meters above the surrounding area of ​​the city. The rock falls almost vertically on three sides. On the east side, on the other hand, the slope is so low that the mountain plateau on this side can be easily reached on foot. This geological peculiarity made the Castle Rock an ideal place for the construction of a defense system or a place of retreat in the event of impending danger.

In several archaeological excavations on the site of the current facility, traces of settlement were found that go back to around the 9th century BC. The finds indicate the first development with large round houses. From the 2nd century AD, based on the archaeological finds, continuous settlement of Castle Rock can be assumed with a very high degree of probability.

history

Edinburgh Castle 1675 (with planned, but not realized, porches)
The great hall

When the Castle Rock was built with a castle for the first time is not certain to be dated. In the epic poem Y Gododdin , written in Welsh , Din Eidyn is mentioned in connection with fighting that presumably took place in the 7th century , which means something like Castle of Eidyn . Accordingly, it is generally assumed that Castle Rock was built with a castle in the 7th century. However, this assumption is fraught with uncertainties. All that can be archaeologically proven is that Castle Rock was inhabited in the early Middle Ages . However, it is no longer possible to determine whether it was a castle. Furthermore, it is questionable whether the Din Eidyn mentioned in Y Gododdin is actually Edinburgh.

The first unequivocal documentary mention of Edinburgh Castle can be found in the Chronica gentis Scotorum . This is a chronicle of Scotland written by John Fordun in the 14th century . In it, in connection with the death of King Malcolm III. mentioned in 1093 a castle in Edinburgh. This date corresponds very well with today's building structure. The oldest surviving building, St. Margaret's Chapel , dates from the beginning of the 12th century. In the centuries that followed, Edinburgh Castle was besieged, destroyed and rebuilt many times. During the Scottish Wars of Independence (1296–1357) it was conquered several times by English troops and / or recaptured by Scottish troops, with most of the existing buildings being destroyed. Further sieges followed in the years 1571 to 1573, 1640, 1650, 1689 and 1745. As a result of the numerous fighting, the fortifications were repeatedly renewed and expanded, so that today there are buildings from almost every century after 1200 on the mountain plateau. Since parts of the castle are still used as a garrison by the 2nd British Infantry Division , the latest buildings date from the 21st century.

It was not until 1314 that the castle could be recaptured by Sir Thomas Randolph , the nephew of Robert the Bruce . The complex was then deliberately destroyed, fell back to the English in 1335 and was taken again by a ruse by Sir William Douglas and his Scots.

David II , the son of Bruce, had the fortress rebuilt after his return to Scotland. After his death in 1371, the reign of the Bruce dynasty ended and the royal dignity passed to the Stuarts (Stewarts) , under whose rule the castle became one of the most important royal castles in Scotland. Maria Stuart , the cousin of Queen Elizabeth I of England, also resided here , before she was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle in 1567 and abdicated in favor of her one-year-old son James VI. was forced.

Stone of Scone

The castle has been home to the legendary Stone of Scone since 1996 , on which the Scottish and later the English kings were crowned since the Middle Ages and which had been under the coronation throne in Westminster since 1296 . The stone had been removed on the orders of Edward I after the castle had been conquered.

The One O'Clock Gun

The 1 p.m. cannon

The One O'Clock Gun (1 p.m. cannon) is fired every day, except on Sundays, at 1 p.m. local time sharp. The origin of this tradition lies in the time of the seafarers, when the sailing ships in the Firth of Forth needed an exact time setting to adjust their chronometers . Although the cannon is actually no longer needed in the era of atomic clocks , firing the cannon has developed into a tourist attraction in its own right and is therefore being continued. The cannon is also fired once on New Years when the New Year arrives.

Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Massed Pipes and Drums during the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, 2009

Directly in front of the castle, on the so-called Esplanade , Scotland's largest music festival, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo , has been held every August since 1950 . Military music is mainly, but not exclusively, performed . The main attraction is regularly the appearance of the Massed Pipes and Drums , a formation of around 200 bagpipers and drummers. Many other program items that recur every year, such as the Lone Piper or the Highland Spring Dancers, emphasize the Scottish character of the event.

See also

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  1. Chris Tabraham: Edinburgh Castle. Edinburgh Castle. Historic Scotland, Edinburgh 2008, ISBN 978-1-904966-77-7 , p. 46. (German edition of the official souvenir brochure)
  2. ^ ST Driscoll, Peter Yeoman: Excavations within Edinburgh Castle. In: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 1997, ISBN 0-903903-12-1 , pp. 222-226.
  3. ^ Alan MacQuarrie: Medieval Scotland: Kingship and Nation. The History Press, 2004, ISBN 0-7509-2977-4 , pp. 29f.
  4. Chris Tabraham: Scotland's Castles. BT Batsford / Historic Scotland, 1997, ISBN 0-7134-7965-5 , p. 13.
  5. Timeline. at: edinburghcastle.gov.uk
  6. ^ The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo: Tattoo Fact File. on: edinburgh-tattoo.co.uk

Web links

Commons : Edinburgh Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 55 ° 56 ′ 55 ″  N , 3 ° 12 ′ 3 ″  W.