Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
it's a slick extravaganza of whiz-bang special effects and 3-D movies cleverly designed to
fire up young minds with curiosity about all things geological and environmental. Its true
purpose, of course, is to disgorge you into a gift shop where you can buy model dinosaurs
and souvenir T-shirts.
Holyrood Park
In Holyrood Park Edinburgh is blessed with a little bit of wilderness in the heart of the
city. The former hunting ground of Scottish monarchs, the park covers 263 hectares of
varied landscape, including crags, moorland and a loch. The highest point is the 251m
summit of
Arthur's Seat
, the deeply eroded remnant of a long-extinct volcano. Holyrood
Park can be circumnavigated by car or bike along Queen's Dr, and you can hike from Ho-
lyrood to the summit in around 45 minutes.
PARK
SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT BUILDING
The
Scottish parliament building
Offline map
Google map
(
0131-348 5200;
www.scottish.parliament.uk
; admission free; 9am-6.30pm Tue-Thu, 10am-5.30pm Mon & Fri in session, to
6pm Mon-Fri in recess Apr-Oct, to 4pm in recess Nov-Mar)
, built on the site of a former brewery close to the
Palace of Holyroodhouse, was officially opened by HM the Queen in October 2005.
The public areas of the building - the Main Hall, where there is an exhibition, shop and cafe; and the
public
gallery
in the Debating Chamber - are open to visitors (tickets needed for public gallery - see website for details).
You can also take a free, one-hour
guided tour
(advance booking recommended) that includes a visit to the De-
bating Chamber, a committee room, the Garden Lobby and, when possible, the office of an MSP (Member of the
Scottish Parliament). If you want to see the
parliament in session
, check the website for sitting times - business
days are normally Tuesday to Thursday year-round.
Enric Miralles (1955-2000), the architect who conceived the Scottish parliament building, believed that a
building could be a work of art. However, the weird concrete confection that has sprouted at the foot of Salisbury
Crags has left the good people of Edinburgh staring and scratching their heads in confusion. What does it all
mean? The strange forms of the exterior are all symbolic in some way, from the oddly shaped windows on the
west wall (inspired by the silhouette of the
Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch,
one of Scot-
land's most famous paintings), to the ground plan of the whole complex, which represents a 'flower of democracy
rooted in Scottish soil' (best seen looking down from Salisbury Crags).
The
Main Hall
, inside the public entrance, has a low, triple-arched ceiling of polished concrete, like a cave, or
cellar, or castle vault. It is a dimly lit space, the starting point for a metaphorical journey from this relative dark-
ness up to the
Debating Chamber
(sitting directly above the Main Hall), which is, in contrast, a palace of light -
the light of democracy. This magnificent chamber is the centrepiece of the parliament, designed not to glorify but
to humble the politicians who sit within it. The windows face Calton Hill, allowing MSPs to look up to its monu-
