City Observatory

The City Observatory was an astronomical observatory on in , Scotland. It is also known as the Calton Hill Observatory. The site is enclosed by a boundary wall with a monument to John Playfair, president of the Edinburgh Astronomical Institution, in the southeast corner.
Wikipedia
Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
Photo: Godot13, CC BY-SA 4.0.
  • Type: Building
  • Description: category A listed building in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
  • Also known as: “City Observatory, Calton Hill, Edinburgh” and “Edinburgh, Calton Hill, City Observatory”

Places of Interest Nearby

Highlights include Calton Hill and National Monument of Scotland.

Park
Photo: 瑞丽江的河水, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a hill in central , , situated beyond the east end of and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. is situated 330 feet northeast of City Observatory.

Photo: Colin, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The , on in , is Scotland's national memorial to the Scottish soldiers and sailors who died fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. is situated 360 feet east of City Observatory.

Photo: Kim Traynor, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The is a commemorative tower in honour of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, located in , Scotland. It is situated on top of Calton Hill, and provides a dramatic termination to the vista along from the west.

Places in the Area

Nearby places include Holyrood and Broughton.

Neighborhood
Photo: Saffron Blaze, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is an area in , the capital of , lying east of the city centre, at the foot of the . The area takes its name from , which was the Church of the Holy Rude. includes the following sites:…

Suburb
Photo: Kim Traynor, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is an area of , . was an ancient feudal barony that existed outside of Edinburgh before it was later incorporated into the city as urban development took place in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Photo: PerryPlanet, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is the original settlement of . At its core is the Royal Mile, the long street descending east from Castle Crag to Holyrood Palace. This medieval city was cramped for space so it built higher and higher, and stank higher still, hence its nickname of "Auld Reekie".

City Observatory

Latitude
55.95498° or 55° 57′ 18″ north
Longitude
-3.18348° or 3° 11′ 1″ west
Inception
1818
Levels
1
Height
13 feet (4 metres)
Open location code
9C7RXR38+XJ
Open­Street­Map ID
way 22411749
Open­Street­Map feature
building=­observatory
Open­Street­Map feature
historic=­yes
Wiki­data ID
Q1632035
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikipedia.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover City Observatory from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Chinese to Urdu—“City Observatory” goes by many names.
  • Chinese: “愛丁堡市天文台”
  • Dutch: “City Observatorium”
  • Egyptian Arabic: “مرصد المدينه”
  • French: “City Observatory”
  • German: “Stadtobservatorium von Edinburgh”
  • Japanese: “エディンバラ市天文台”
  • Japanese: “シティ天文台”
  • Japanese: “市立天文台 (エディンバラ)”
  • Russian: “Городская обсерватория Эдинбурга”
  • Swedish: “City Observatory”
  • Ukrainian: “Міська обсерваторія (Единбург)”
  • Ukrainian: “Обсерваторія Калтон Гілл”
  • Urdu: “سٹی رصدگاہ”

Notable Places Nearby

Highlights include Collective - City Observatory and The Hillside.

Nearby Places

Explore places such as Thomas Henderson Memorial and Collective Kiosk.

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