Baku, September 28, AZERTAC

Edinburgh Castle, stronghold that was once the residence of Scottish monarchs and now serves mostly as a museum.

It stands 443 feet (135 metres) above sea level and overlooks the city of Edinburgh from a volcanic crag called Castle Rock.

Castle Rock has been the site of human activity for at least 3,000 years.

By 600 CE a Celtic tribe called the Votadini, or Gododdin, had built Eidyn’s Hill Fort on the rock. The first king of Scotland who is known to have made his residence on Castle Rock was Malcolm III Canmore (reigned 1058–93). His pious wife Queen Margaret, who died in the castle in 1093 and was later canonized as St. Margaret of Scotland, is commemorated in St. Margaret’s Chapel, which was built between about 1130 and 1140 on the highest point of the rock and is the oldest surviving building on the castle grounds.

Set upon its mighty rock, Edinburgh Castle’s strategic advantage is clear. Seeing the site’s military potential, Iron Age people built a hill fort on the rock. Early medieval poetry tells of a war band that feasted here for a year before riding to their deaths in battle.

As well as guarding great moments in history, the castle has suffered many sieges. During the Wars of Independence it changed hands many times. In 1314, the Scots retook the castle from the English in a daring night raid led by Thomas Randolph, nephew of Robert the Bruce.

The castle defences have evolved over hundreds of years. Mons Meg, one of the greatest medieval cannons ever made, was given to King James II in 1457. The Half Moon Battery, built in the aftermath of the Lang Siege of 1573, was armed for 200 years by bronze guns known as the Seven Sisters. Six more guns defend the Argyle Battery, with its open outlook to the north.

Edinburgh Castle was home to kings and queens for many centuries. Queen Margaret (who was later made a saint) died here in 1093. The chapel built in her honour by her son, King David I, is Edinburgh’s oldest building. St Margaret’s Chapel still hosts weddings and christenings today.

Edinburgh Castle is the traditional repository of the Honours of Scotland, the country’s crown jewels. A more ancient relic of Scottish royalty is the Stone of Scone (or Stone of Destiny), which arrived at the castle only in 1996, exactly 700 years after it was removed to England. The stone is a block of sandstone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned.