Edinburgh’s Unique Architecture

The many different faces of Edinburgh City show the changes from ancient to modern times.  From the Old Town, New Town, neo-classical to Georgian, medieval to modern day, the city is as rich in architecture as in history.  The two most distinct areas of the city are the Old Town and the New Town.

Old Town

The Royal Mile, which dominates the Old Town of Edinburgh, is steeped in medieval history, from the 1671 neo-classical Holyrood Palace at the bottom of the mile to the dominating fortress of 1103AD Edinburgh Castle at the top. 

The Royal Mile showcases medieval crow-stepped gables, turrets, and buildings mixed with modern facades.  The cobbled streets, tiny winding alleyways, and closes are a labyrinth to explore. 

Edinburgh Castle influenced how nobility built their own castles and developed into Scotland’s own baronial style architecture, which was widely used in Edinburgh through the 16th and 17th centuries. It features elaborate rooflines, conical roofs, crow-stepped gables, and corbelled corner turrets, which still make up the skyline of the Old Town today.

Victoria Street on the edge of the Old Town was designed by Thomas Hamilton, an architect heavily influenced by ancient Greek architecture.  Built in the old Flemish style between 1820 and 1834, it is still one of the most photographed streets in Edinburgh.

New Town

The New Town is actually seven new towns constructed between 1767 and 1890 outside of the Old Town walls so the nobility and well-to-do members of society could live in more comfort.

Uniformly planned in height and width, ashlar-faced, neo-classical residential buildings with extensive private gardens and grid-style wide streets with grand public squares at either end influenced European architecture. Here in Edinburgh, the majority of the New Town remains virtually intact and is UNESCO world heritage protected.  

From street level, you will see lovely four-story continuous buildings, but if you were to have a bird' s-eye view, you would see enclosed city blocks with large gardens and green spaces contained within, many boasting trees as big and old as their surrounding buildings.

Here at the Haymarket Hotel, you are staying in one of our five New Town townhouses and UNESCO-protected buildings, and you can appreciate how one townhouse would have been one single residence. You can also sneak a view of the private gardens these houses would have enjoyed from Logan’s Bar, or you may be lucky enough to enjoy a view of them from your room or patio. 

Whether it’s a walk to the Old or New town you’re planning today, as always, enjoy your stay.