Discover Edinburgh - Discover Scotland: Experience the Best of Scotland - page 152

Old Town
Edinburgh's Old Town stretches along a ridge to the east of the castle, and tumbles down
Victoria St to the broad expanse of the Grassmarket. It's a jagged and jumbled maze of
masonry riddled with closes (alleys) and wynds (narrow lanes), stairs and vaults, and cleft
along its spine by the cobbled ravine of the Royal Mile.
Until the founding of the New Town in the 18th century, old Edinburgh was an over-
crowded and insanitary hive of humanity squeezed between the boggy ground of the Nor'
Loch (North Loch, now drained and occupied by Princes Street Gardens) to the north and
the city walls to the south and east. The only way for the town to expand was upwards,
and the five- and six-storey tenements that were raised along the Royal Mile in the 16th
and 17th centuries were the skyscrapers of their day, remarked upon with wonder by visit-
ing writers including Daniel Defoe. All classes of society, from beggars to magistrates,
lived cheek by jowl in these urban ants' nests, the wealthy occupying the middle floors -
high enough to be above the noise and stink of the streets, but not so high that climbing
the stairs would be too tiring - while the poor squeezed into attics, basements, cellars and
vaults amid the rats, rubbish and raw sewage.
The renovated Old Town tenements still support a thriving city-centre community, and
today the street level is crammed with cafes, restaurants, bars, backpacker hostels and
tacky souvenir shops. Few visitors wander beyond the main drag of the Royal Mile, but
it's worth taking time to explore the countless closes that lead off the street into quiet
courtyards, often with unexpected views of city, sea and hills (see the Walking Tour, Click
here ) .