The New Town

This distinguished building is arguably the finest example in Britain of Robert Adam's neoclassical architecture. It was started to his design in 1774, but not completed until nearly 30 years later. Its significance at the time was threefold: it was the first public building in the New Town, designed to encourage further private investment there and provide an impressive welcome as you came off North Bridge; it was the first building in Edinburgh to be graced with a dome (partly hidden behind the pediment); and it was the first purpose-built repository for records in the western world. Since then it has been altered remarkably little, and is still the headquarters of the National Archives of Scotland. Visitors are welcome to explore the temporary exhibitions of historical material in the foyer and, if they ask nicely, to have a quick look at the splendid domed interior. If you want to use the reading rooms, you'll need to apply for a ticket (contact the National Archives of Scotland, HM General Register House, EH1 3YY, 0131 535 1314).

Carry on in the direction indicated by the Duke of Wellington astride his charger.

One of the city's more dramatic public monuments, the Wellington Statue was unveiled on the 37th anniversary of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo (18 June 1852), during a terrible thunderstorm. The Duke admired Steell's portrayal of his riding style enough to have two copies made for his houses in England. Remarkably enough, the entire weight of the sculpture balances on the horse's hind legs and tail, all the more remarkable, as one contemporary observed, in that the horse has no hocks. Several moves to have the statue taken down because of its inappropriate political associations have so far been unsuccessful.

Continue straight on uphill, up Waterloo Place to the Regent Bridge.

With its triumphal arch depicting scenes from Waterloo, the Regent Bridge was engineered by Robert Stevenson, the grandfather of Robert Louis, to connect the New Town with the new Calton Jail. Enormously expensive, it ploughed right through part of the Old Calton Burial Ground.

Go through a door in the wall further up on the right to look around the Old Calton Burial Ground at the foot of Calton Hill.

Calton Hill

The Burial Ground makes a good introduction to the monuments of Calton Hill itself. Here, on a much smaller scale, you are surrounded by an even greater profusion of commemorative stonework.

You can't miss the most interesting monument, the Martyrs' Memorial, the prominent obelisk erected in 1844 by the Complete Suffrage Association. Abraham Lincoln casts a sympathetic eye on the memorial from over the way on the Emancipation Monument, commemorating the Scottish-American dead of the American Civil War. Next to it is Robert Adam's great, round Roman mausoleum for the great, round sceptical philosopher David Hume. On his burial in 1776, his friends kept vigil for eight nights by the gloomy tomb, some said to prevent the devil coming for his atheist soul, more likely to prevent medical students coming for his valuable corpse.

Other famous individuals whose graves can be found here include David Allan, the historical genre painter, and Thomas Hamilton, the architect of the Martyrs' Memorial, of the Royal High School (see below) and of much of the city's neoclassical appearance.