Edinburgh Photo Library
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Located on the southern edge of Calton Hill, the Royal High School of Edinburgh was designed by Thomas Hamilton and built in 1825-9. By that time Edinburgh's New Town was well advanced and this was the only suitable site left. The Greek Doric columns are based on the Temple of Theseus, overlooking Athens.
After the school had moved to modern accommodation towards the end of the 20th century, the large oval main hall was set up as a debating chamber for a projected Scottish Assembly in the late 1970s but that did not materialise. The school was again considered as the site for the new Scottish Parliament in 1999, but was rejected in favour of a new buuilding on a site in Holyrood.
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