Edinburgh Castle sits on a volcanic plug 135 metres above the city, occupied since at l…

Edinburgh Castle sits on a volcanic plug 135 metres above the city, occupied since at least 900 BC. The Celtic Gododdin tribe called it Din Eidyn — it first appears in a 7th-century Welsh poem about a warband who feasted there for a year before riding south to die fighting the Angles at Catterick. The Angles took it in 638 and anglicised the name to Edinburgh. It’s been besieged more than any other castle in Europe. St Margaret’s Chapel, built around 1130, is the oldest building in the city. Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to the future James VI here in 1566. It houses the Honours of Scotland — the oldest crown jewels in Britain — and the Stone of Destiny, returned from England in 1996 after 700 years. A cannon has been fired at 1pm six days a week since 1861, originally as a time signal for ships on the Firth of Forth. Still has a military garrison. Over two million visitors a year, making it Scotland’s most popular paid attraction.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​