Calton Hill

You've reached Edinburgh's most famous viewpoint. From here you can take in at a glance the two cities UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site in 1995: the medieval Old Town, with the castle in the distance, and the Georgian New Town at your feet.

'Of all places for a view, this Calton Hill is perhaps the best; since you can see the Castle, which you lose from the Castle, and Arthur's Seat, which you cannot see from Arthur's Seat.' Robert Louis Stevenson, 'Edinburgh: Picturesque Notes' (1878).

1Scotland's Disgrace

The twelve columns are the National Monument, in memory of the Scots who died in the Napoleonic Wars. Charles Robert Cockerell and William Henry Playfair modelled it on the Parthenon in Athens, and work began in 1826. In 1829 the money ran out and it was never completed. For years it was called 'Scotland's Disgrace'; today it's one of the country's best-loved images.

2A telescope and a ball

The white tower is the Nelson Monument, finished around 1816, shaped like an upturned telescope. At the top is a ball that drops every day at one o'clock sharp, in step with the castle's One O'Clock Gun: that's how ships in the port of Leith set their chronometers.

3What to look out for

• The twelve columns of the National Monument.
• The time ball on the Nelson Monument, at the top of the mast.
• The Dugald Stewart Monument, Playfair's small round temple that frames the classic postcard view of the castle.