The Mound and the National Gallery

The ground under your feet isn't natural. Until the 18th century there was a loch here, the Nor' Loch, which protected the town to the north and also served as its rubbish dump. When the New Town was planned on the far side, the loch was drained, leaving a marshy valley between the two cities.

1A hill of spoil

Local tradition credits the idea to a tailor, George Boyd, who began dumping earth to cross the mud to his shop. What is documented is that from the late 18th century the earth dug out for the New Town's foundations was tipped here: an estimated million and a half cartloads. The ramp was consolidated in the 1830s. In 1959 an 'electric blanket' was even laid under the road surface to keep the ice off.

2Playfair's two temples

On this artificial mound the architect William Henry Playfair raised two Greek-style buildings. The first was the Royal Scottish Academy, in the 1820s; the second, behind it, the National Gallery of Scotland, opened in 1859. Inside are works by Velázquez, Raphael, Rembrandt and Vermeer, and the permanent collection is free to visit.

There was a reason Edinburgh was called 'the Athens of the North': hills, Greek temples and an intellectual life that looked to the ancient world.

3What to look out for

• The Ionic columns of the National Gallery.
• Queen Victoria, seated high on the front of the Royal Scottish Academy.
• The dome of the Bank of Scotland, at the top of The Mound.