Editing Royal Mile (section)

==High Street==
[[File:The High Street, Edinburgh.JPG|thumb|270px|Looking down the High Street towards the [[Tron Kirk]], the section rebuilt in 1828 following the [[Great Fire of Edinburgh (1824)]]]]
On the south side, about one-third of the way down from the Castle toward the Palace is [[Parliament Square, Edinburgh|Parliament Square]], named after the old [[Parliament House, Edinburgh|Parliament House]] which housed both the law courts and the old [[Parliament of Scotland]] between the 1630s and 1707 (when its existence was ended by the [[Act of Union 1707|Act of Union]]). Parliament House now houses the [[Court of Session]], [[Courts of Scotland|Scotland's supreme civil court]]. [[St Giles' Cathedral]], the High Kirk of Edinburgh, also stands in Parliament Square.

By the West Door of St Giles' is the [[Heart of Midlothian (Royal Mile)|Heart of Midlothian]], a heart-shaped pattern built into the "setted" road, marking the site of the [[Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh|Old Tolbooth]], formerly the centre of administration, taxation and justice in the [[burgh]]. The prison was described by [[Sir Walter Scott]] as the "Heart of Midlothian", and soon after demolition the city fathers marked the site with a heart mosaic. Locals have traditionally spat upon the heart's centre as a sign of contempt for the prison. On the north side, opposite St Giles', stand [[Edinburgh City Chambers]], where the [[City of Edinburgh Council]] meets. On the south side, just past the High Kirk, is the [[Mercat Cross, Edinburgh|Mercat Cross]] from which royal proclamations are read and the summoning of Parliament announced.
[[File:Heart of Midlothian and brass marker.jpg|thumb|left|160px|The [[Heart of Midlothian (Royal Mile)|Heart of Midlothian]]]]
The whole south side of buildings from St Giles to the [[Tron Kirk]] had to be rebuilt or refaced in the 1820s following the [[Great Edinburgh Fire]] of 1824. This was done in a Georgian style, stepping down the hill.

The central focus of the Royal Mile is a major intersection with the Bridges.  [[North Bridge, Edinburgh|North Bridge]] runs north over [[Edinburgh Waverley railway station|Waverley station]] to the New Town's Princes Street. [[South Bridge, Edinburgh|South Bridge]] (which appears at street level to be simply a road with shops on either side—only one arch is visible from below) spans the [[Cowgate]] to the south, a street in a hollow below, and continues as Nicolson Street past the [[Old College, University of Edinburgh|Old College]] building of the [[University of Edinburgh]].

[[File:Netherbow tablet in the High Street, Edinburgh.jpg|thumb|120px|Tablet marking the site of the Netherbow Port]]
At [[John Knox House|John Knox's House]] the High Street narrows to a section of the street formerly known as the Netherbow, which, at its crossroads with Jeffrey Street (north) and St Mary's Street (south), marked the former city boundary. At this point stood the [[Edinburgh town walls|Netherbow Port]], a [[fortified gateway]] between Edinburgh and [[the Canongate]] (until 1856 a separate burgh), which was removed in 1764 to improve traffic flow. The [[Scottish Storytelling Centre]] is a modern extension to John Knox House, owned by the Church of Scotland. It opened in 2006, replacing the former Netherbow Arts Centre, which itself replaced the Moray-Knox Church in the 1960s. Following the English victory over the Scots at the [[Battle of Flodden]] in 1513, a city wall was built around Edinburgh known as the [[Flodden Wall]], some parts of which survive. The Netherbow Port was a gateway in this wall and [[brass]] studs in the road mark its former position. On the corner of St Mary's Street is the World's End Pub which takes its name from the adjacent World's End Close, whimsically so named because this was in former times the last close in Edinburgh before entering the Canongate.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.edinburgh.org.uk/STREETS/part1/w.htm | title = The Derivation of Edinburgh's Street Names | access-date = 2012-09-10 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120808221222/http://www.edinburgh.org.uk/STREETS/part1/w.htm | archive-date = 8 August 2012 | df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/52328/details/edinburgh+high+street+world+s+end+close/ | title = Edinburgh High Street, World's End Close | access-date = 2012-09-10}}</ref>