Edinburgh Museums - Edinburgh Museums. Exhibition Riots, sieges, executions, and coronations – Scotland’s capital city, so often at the very heart of Scottish affairs, has had a turbulent and eventful history.
Monday - Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm Who is this for? Things to do in Edinburgh : The Royal Scottish Academy and The National Gallery. The 18th and 19th centuries The art of the 18th century encompasses mainly Scottish, English, French and Italian paintings.
From Scotland there are superb pieces by Allan Ramsay Jnr, Sir David Wilkie and Sir William McTaggart. Perhaps prime among equals are the portraits from the fast-flowing brush of the magnificent Sir Henry Raeburn. Included is his famous 'The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch' which was believed to have been painted around 1795. There is is also work by English artists such as the brilliant portrait and landscape painter Thomas Gainsborough as well as the 'Grand Style' of Sir Joshua Reynolds. From France there are paintings by Antoine Watteau and Jean Baptiste Chardin and from Italy by Pompeo Batoni and Giovanni Tiepolo.
National Museum of Scotland. Museum of Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments. St Cecilia's Hall Museum of Instruments. Reid Concert Hall Museum of Instruments. Surgeons' Hall Museum. Scotland’s largest medical museum houses one of the most significant surgical collections in the world.
William Playfair’s outstanding Pathology Museum, the oldest in Britain, contains human anatomical and pathological specimens from the late 18th century. Other objects, images and artworks trace surgery’s fascinating history from Roman times to the present including the breakthrough discoveries of antisepsis and anaesthesia, the curious development of false teeth, and the chilling Burke and Hare murders. ‘Sport, Surgery and the Well Being’ highlights the benefits of sports and exercise medicine and gives you the chance to test your skill as a surgeon on the keyhole surgery training unit. Edinburgh University Anatomy Museum. Surgeons' Hall Museum, Edinburgh - Home.
Writers' Museum. The museum is dedicated to the lives and works of Robert Burns (1759-1796), Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) and Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894).
Other writers and literary themes are featured in the museum’s programme of temporary exhibitions. Outside is Makars Court, where Scottish writers from the 14th century to the present are commemorated. Visitors can see portraits, rare books and personal objects including Burns’ writing desk, the printing press on which Scott’s Waverley Novels were first produced, and Scott’s own dining table and rocking horse.
The museum also has Robert Louis Stevenson’s riding boots and the ring given to him by a Samoan chief, engraved with the name ‘Tusitala’, meaning ‘teller of tales’. There is also a plaster cast of Robert Burns’ skull, one of only three ever made. Edinburgh Museums - The Literary City: Makars' Court. Makars’ Court takes its name from the Scots word for a poet or author.
This peaceful public space lies next to the Writers’ Museum. Beautifully inscribed flagstones celebrate Scottish writers from the 14th century to today. Makars’ Court is the perfect place to unwind, reflect on the talents of Scotland’s wordsmiths and soak up the atmosphere of this historic quarter of the Royal Mile. Makars’ Court is an evolving national literary monument. New stones are added regularly. What does ‘Makar’ mean? The Writers' Museum, (Edinburgh Museums & Galleries) Address and Opening Hours Lady Stair’s House, Lady Stairs Close, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2PA Hours: 10-5 Mon-Sat all year (and also 12-5 Sun during Edinburgh Festival only).
Closed 25-26 December and 1-2 January. Access to reserve collections by appointment only. Edinburgh Museums - Edinburgh Museums. Edinburgh Museums - Edinburgh Museums. HomeThe Old City Observatory In addition to the famous monuments on Calton Hill, the old City Observatory can be found here.
Inspired by a Greek temple of the Four Winds, the building was designed by William Henry Playfair in 1818. The first Astronomer Royal to work in this building was Professor Thomas Henderson, appointed 1834, who had discovered how to measure parallax and the distance to a star while in his previous job in South Africa Edinburgh's City Observatory, also known as the Playfair Observatory, is a fascinating place, where the optimism and excitement of early scientific advances can still be felt.
Old Observatory House is available to rent. Edinburgh Museums - Edinburgh Museums. Edinburgh Museums - Edinburgh Museums. When you step inside Lauriston Castle, you see it just as it was in 1926, when it was left to the nation by the last private owner, Mrs Reid.
Edinburgh Museums - Edinburgh Museums. Edinburgh Museums - Edinburgh Museums. Home The People's Story Museum The People’s Story explores the lives of Edinburgh’s ordinary people at work and play from the late 18th century to today.
Visitors can see displays showing a bookbinder’s workshop, a wartime kitchen and much more, all packed with real objects. You can even see a former jail, an original part of this historic building. The People’s Story is housed in the Canongate Tollbooth, a Royal Mile landmark built in 1591 and used in the past to conduct burgh affairs, collect taxes and as a jail. Visitors can imagine the ghostly rattle of the jailor’s keys as they peer into an original cell. If you want to experience a real slice of Edinburgh life in the past, from workdays to washdays, high days to holidays, The People’s Story is the museum to visit. Images of the Canongate Tollbooth and other tollbooths can be found on Capital Collections . NEW!! About Find out more about The People's Story and what you will see when you visit.
Collections Learning Exhibitions Shop. Edinburgh Museums - Travelling Gallery. The Travelling Gallery is a unique, beautiful, self-contained, custom-built mobile art gallery, which brings contemporary art exhibitions into schools and communities throughout Scotland.
The Gallery usually tours two exhibitions per year for about four months at a time and is often at a different venue each day. Admission to all Travelling Gallery exhibitions is free and you also get a colour leaflet about the exhibition to take away with you. Our opening hours vary depending on where abouts we are. The Travelling Gallery is Foundation Funded by Creative Scotland. Edinburgh Museums - Edinburgh Museums. Edinburgh Museums - Edinburgh Museums. HomeMuseums Collection Centre This centre houses the reserve collections of the city museums, there are many interesting objects on ‘open storage’ display, especially social history objects, decorative art and archaeology collections. Open for group and individual visits on the first Tuesday of the month at 2pm. Advance booking advisable (0131 556 9536). Museum on the Mound - Edinburgh Scotland. LBFRS > The Museum of Fire. Museum of Childhood. City Art Centre. National Mining Museum Scotland.
A VisitScotland five star visitor attraction, the National Mining Museum Scotland is the national coal mining museum for Scotland and cares for the Lady Victoria Colliery and the national coal mining collections. The collections at the museum comprise over 60,000 items, including objects, archive material, photographs and books. The Museum’s object collection includes tools, safety equipment, lamps, models, clothing, trophies, geological specimens, banners and art. The BIG Stuff Tour allows visitors to see the Museum’s extensive collection of large mining objects, such as coal cutters, cages, and locomotives. 10 of the best museums and galleries in Edinburgh. The Museum on the Mound There has long been some form of museum in the bowels of the Bank of Scotland building on the Mound, now the Scottish HQ of Lloyds, but until 2006 entry was by appointment only and the displays were limited to one room.
The Museum on the Mound opened five years ago, pre-financial crisis, and there is bleak humour to be found in the displays and their accompanying text: "Not just a respectable career, it also offered an opportunity for more leisurely pursuits … See what 'high jinks' staff got up to in their free time. " There are seven rooms in total, detailing how money evolved over 4,000 years. One case holds £1m in used £20 notes.• The Mound, 0131-243 5464, museumonthemound.com, free. Open Tues-Fri 10am-5pm Sat, Sun, bank holiday Mon 1pm-5pm Surgeons' Hall Museums In a glass cabinet in Surgeons' Hall Museums is a small hide-bound pocketbook the colour of strong tea.