THE OLD TOWN
The Old Town has preserved its medieval plan and many Reformation-era buildings. One end is closed by the castle and the main artery, known as the Royal Mile, leads away from it; minor streets (called closes or wynds) lead downhill on either side of the main spine in a herringbone pattern. Large squares mark the location of markets or surround major public buildings such as St Giles Cathedral and the Law Courts. Other notable places of interest nearby include the Royal Museum of Scotland, Surgeons' Hall, the Festival Theatre, and the University of Edinburgh. The street layout, typical of the old quarters of many northern European cities, is made especially picturesque in Edinburgh, where the castle perches on top of a rocky crag, the remnants of a dormant volcano, and the main street runs down the crest of a ridge from it.
The topography for the city is known as "crag and tail" and was created during the ice age when receding glaciers scored across the land pushing soft soil aside but being split by harder crags of volcaninc rock. The hilltop crag was the earliest part of the city to develop, becoming fortified and eventually developing into the current Edinburgh Castle. The rest of the city grew slowly down the tail of land from the Castle Rock.
Due to the space restrictions the Old Town became home to some of the earliest "high rise" residential buildings. Multi-story dwellings were the norm from the 1500s onwards. However, many of these buildings were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1824, but were rebuilt on the original foundations. This led to changes in the ground level and the creation of many passages and vaults under the Old Town.
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