Edinburgh and The Palace at Holyroodhouse

The Palace of Holyroodhouse stands at the foot of "The Royal Mile" in Edinburgh. It has been a royal residence for over 500 years. It once was the home of Mary Queen of Scots.(She lost her head!) Robert Louis Stevenson wrote of Holyroodhouse, "Holyrood is a house of many memories. Wars have been plotted, dancing has lasted deep into the night, murder has been done in its chamber."

It is the official residence of Her Majesty The Queen in Scotland. While the Queen can generally be found at Windsor Castle or Buckingham Palace she is officially in residence at Holyroodhouse at least once a year in the summer. Holyroodhouse takes it's origins from an Augustinian Abbey built in 1128 by David I. The Abbey contained royal chambers used by the king. By the time Edinburgh became the capitol of Scotland in the 15th century kings and queens preferred Holyrood, with it's beautiful gardens and large park for hunting, over the Edinburgh Castle. James IV converted the royal lodgings into a palace and the new building was completed in 1504. Like many similar structures, Holyrood has been destroyed, rebuilt, expanded and renovated many times, and very little of the original structure remains. Scott and I spent several hours wandering around the palace and the grounds.

The Abbey saw many royal burials between the 1400's and mid-1500's. It suffered from many destructive raids and the various royal vaults and monuments were destroyed. The royal remains were later collected and interred together in the Royal Vault. Although the Abbey today is a ruin, this vault remains intact.

Scott and I finished off our afternoon by hopping a double decker bus and enjoying a narrated tour of the sights and history of Edinburgh. We did notice many underground tours of Edinburgh, and have since learned that they are a "not to be missed" part of Edinburgh's history. Maybe we will save that for when the kids visit!