New College from Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland

Beside both the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle lie a number of landmarks which face Princes Street. From left to right, these are Bank of Scotland headquarters, University of Edinburgh New College, Ramsay Gardens and Highland Tollbooth.

New College in the centre of the picture is possibly the more notable of these. For a start there is the architecture: its twin Gothic towers cannot be missed. The building normally houses the University of Edinburgh Faculty of Divinity and the Church of Scotland Assembly Hall. However, the latter was a temporary home for the Scottish Parliament, reconvened in 1999, until the opening of new parliament buildings at Holyrood.

That spire at the right is that of the Highland Tollbooth, a former Church of Scotland kirk and now the headquarters of the Edinburgh International Festival, one of the ones held every year in the month of August. The Fringe is possibly better known but film and book festivals are also held around the same time.

Below the spire of the Highland Tollbooth, you see Ramsay Gardens, formerly used as a training centre by the Bank of Scotland but since converted into apartments. Incidentally, the headquarters of the Bank of Scotland are at the extreme left of the photo.

See more photos from this album (Edinburgh)