Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle stands on the volcanic outcrop of Castle Rock in Edinburgh, Scotland, a naturally defensible site rising about 130 meters above sea level that has been occupied since at least the Iron Age. A royal castle stood there from the reign of Malcolm III in the eleventh century until 1633, its oldest surviving building, St Margaret's Chapel, dates from the early twelfth century, the Great Hall was built under James IV in the early sixteenth century, and David's Tower was begun around 1367. The castle has withstood 26 sieges across its history, including repeated action during the Wars of Scottish Independence and the devastating Lang Siege of 1571 to 1573, whose artillery bombardment destroyed much of the medieval defenses later rebuilt as the Half Moon Battery. Today it houses the Scottish National War Memorial and National War Museum, fires the daily One O'Clock Gun, and each year serves as the backdrop for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.