Old Calton Cemetery

Der Old Calton Cemetery ist ein schöner, alter, aufgelassener Friedhof mit Ruhestätten berühmter Edinburgher Bürger.
So ist hier zum Beispiel auch die Gruft von David Hume, einem der großen Aufklärer und Philosophen Schottlands, ein Denkmal für die schottisch-​amerikanischen Soldaten im amerikanischen Bürgerkrieg mit einer Lincoln-​Statue und ein großer Obelisk, dessen Inschrift ich leider nicht entziffern können.
Ein angenehmer Ort der Ruhe, um die Geschichte Edinburghs mal anders zu erleben.

Super cool — what a lovely view of the area surrounding and the grounds themselves. I have always found graveyards fascinating but this one is much cooler than average. There are so many things to see and walk through in here and it’s right off the main street. Check out the martyr’s monument and just take in the general ambiance.

I am not so well-​informed on the history of Edinburgh’s movers and shakers, and I came upon this cemetery by pure accident.
It was placid and strangely silent in that way graveyards always are, and I wrote a memorial for a late friend in the snow. I love that you can walk into most of the gravesites, and let the history and age of the place sink in.

For those with an interest in some of Edinburgh’s most highly regarded inhabitants, Old Calton Cemetery proves an essential visit. Located adjacent to Calton Hill, it offers a small, peaceful refuge right next to the bustling activity of Princes Street.
This relatively small site is full of excellent photo opportunities. You can’t fail to miss the awe inspiring Martyr’s monument, projecting high into the sky, which is in memorandum to the Chartist Martyr’s who were deported as a result of their attempts to secure votes for all. Another point of interest is the Scottish-​American Soldier’s monument, capped with a statue of Abraham Lincoln. This is the only monument to the American Civil War outside of the USA and demonstrates immaculate craftsmanship. Of course, Edinburgh locals will be familiar with David Hume. You can find him here.
The cemetery has a very authentic feel to it. I find that sometimes cemetery’s can be somewhat too over kept, detracting from the reality of the sites purpose. Not so here. The hilly mounds and variation in tombstones really give this site a unique feel and can really bring your attention and thoughts back to the city’s vibrant history.
Of course, bear in mind, it is a cemetery, and so will not cater to everyone’s tastes!

I don’t know if it’s a morbid curiosity or I’ve inherited it from my Mother, but a wander round a graveyard reading all of the headstones is a really great afternoon for me! I hate thinking about death, I hate hearing about it but there is something peaceful about cemeteries, not to mention interesting, and reading the old gravestones is a real step back in time.
This particular graveyard opened in 1718 for the burial of tradesmen and extended to the South of Waterloo Place later on. It has loads of interesting memorials including that of philosopher David Hume and Robert Burn who built Nelson Monument.
Great for a bit of history on a sunny day.

Whilst I don’t quite share Stephanie’s love for reading up on the origins of the various putrefying corpses in our cities of the dead, I do find graveyards just as fascinating, but more for the eerie, ghostly element. I’ve always had a fascination for ghosts and the supernatural, even though deep down I don’t remotely believe in it.
This one has bags and bags of Hammer Horror style atmosphere, especially around dusk when the surrounding city quietens down. It really does give you a bit of the old goosepimples, and that creepy (and self-​inflicted) feeling of being watched never grows old.
And being watched you certainly are. Not by disembodoed spirits of the dead, but by gay rapists and buckfast-​swilling youths. Less scary, more dangerous.