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The Athens of the North: from the North Bridge to Calton Hill
At the end of the eighteenth century, a small city in the north compared itself to Athens.
The Enlightenment and Science in Edinburgh: audio walks
Why was it called the Athens of the North, and what ideas came out of here?
3 walks with different starting points and stories. Compare their maps, stops and duration, then choose where to begin.
Explore these walksThe Athens of the North can be explored through very down-to-earth questions. Who debated new ideas, where did they meet, and what was Edinburgh saying when it borrowed the forms of Greece? These walks bring the Enlightenment into streets and onto hills, connecting philosophers and science with a city eager to rethink its appearance.
In “Burke, Hare and medicine”: The teaching of anatomy brings science to an uncomfortable question: where did the bodies used for study come from?
In “The Athens of the North”: At the end of the eighteenth century, a small city in the north compared itself to Athens.
In “New Town”: This walk starts in St Andrew Square, with two powerful Dundases and a lighthouse engineer's crane, and a street named after a saint as a joke at David Hume's expense.
Choose from 3 independent walks in Edinburgh. Open the one that interests you to see its map, stops and approximate duration before deciding. You don't need to do them all or follow this selection's order; each walk has its own starting and finishing points.
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Burke and Hare and Edinburgh Medicine
The teaching of anatomy brings science to an uncomfortable question: where did the bodies used for study come from?
New Town: from St Andrew Square to Stevenson's Street
This walk starts in St Andrew Square, with two powerful Dundases and a lighthouse engineer's crane, and a street named after a saint as a joke at David Hume's expense.
Edinburgh, before you go
A stone city built on hills, with a castle above it and weather that keeps changing. Cobbled streets and narrow stairways reward walking, provided your shoes have grip and your coat has a hood.
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