Scott Monument

Look up: in front of you is a 61-metre Gothic rocket, blackened by a century and a half of coal smoke. It's Edinburgh's tribute to Sir Walter Scott, the novelist who made Scotland fashionable across Europe with 'Waverley', 'Ivanhoe' and 'Rob Roy'.

1The unknown entrant

Scott died in 1832 and the city held a competition for his monument. It was won by a design submitted under a pseudonym, 'John Morvo'. Behind it was George Meikle Kemp, a joiner and draughtsman with no architectural training who had steeped himself in Gothic churches, Melrose Abbey among them. Work began in 1840. In March 1844, on a foggy night, Kemp fell into the Union Canal and drowned. The monument was finished that same year and inaugurated in 1846.

2Scott and his dog

Under the arches sits Scott, carved in Carrara marble by John Steell, with his deerhound Maida at his feet. All around, in niches, are dozens of figures of characters from his novels. If you have the legs for it, 287 steps lead to the highest gallery.

The station next door is called Waverley after Scott's first novel: probably the only railway station in the world named after a book.

3What to look out for

• The white marble statue, standing out against the dark stone.
• The figures in the niches: characters from Scott's novels.
• The galleries at different heights, where visitors climb.