One might look at the photos of Edinburgh and think that the city looks, well, dark. Aside from the weather, Edinburgh buildings contribute to that look as well. The capital of Scotland is one of the most historical cities in the world, its buildings can attest to that.

While the records of its first settlers go back thousands of years, the name Edinburgh came about in the 12th century. A royal burgh in the beginning, it gets its name from King Edwin of Northumbria, meaning “Edwin’s fortress.” As time passed, Edinburgh became the biggest city in Scotland where Scottish Kings and Queens resided.

At first, an extensive set of walls surrounded Edinburgh. One side covered by walls and the other by a river, Edinburgh was quite safe against any invasions. However, this came with a cost as the city had no place to expand. Since the horizontal expansion was impossible due to the walls, they started expanding vertically.
As the city buildings started to rise up, Edinburgh started to have this gothic outlook. Moreover, the center of the city was a place for dumping waste and burning dead bodies. For centuries, the citizens of Edinburg had to smell the toxic smoke coming out of the dumping places. This smoke also started to latch onto the Edinburgh buildings and change their color.

Ian G Black

The smoke rising above Edinburgh buildings was so dense and thick that people started calling Edinburgh Auld Rekkie which means Old Smoky.

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