Location: Near the East end of Princes Street

From the top of Calton Hill you can admire a panoramic view of Edinburgh. This stretches from the romantic labyrinth and cobbled streets of the old town in the South to the Classical order of the New Town in the East. In the background to the north, you can see the Firth of Forth as well.

The Portuguese cannon was built in Portugal (when it was part of Spain) and brought back to Edinburgh after campaigns in the Far East. The old City Observatory (no longer in use as an observatory) is an example of the scientific curiosity of the Enlightenment that was sweeping Europe in the nineteenth century.

The iconic National Monument on the top of Calton Hill was built with the Greek Parthenon as a model. It was built to celebrate the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Nelson’s monument was also built about that time to celebrate the Battle of Trafalgar.

Find out more at this link.

To get to the next of this stage of this EuroWalk (the Scott Monument), walk about 300 metres down Calton Hill to Regent Road/Waterloo Place. Turn right on Regent Road/Waterloo Place and walk for 300 metres to Princes Street then continue for another 300 metres to the Scott Monument on your left.

Picture credits: Stuart Baillie Strong/Edinburgh4Europe