The Royal Mile is the name of the long, cobbled stoned street connecting the Castle with Holyrood Palace. It has some of the most famous old buildings, churches, houses in the Old Town.

Right: St Giles' Cathedral is the High Kirk of Edinburgh, and has been at the heart of the city's spiritual life for at least 900 years. A living church with an active congregation. The oldest parts of the present building are the four massive central pillars, thought to date from about 1120. The church was burnt down in 1385 but quickly rebuilt. Over the next 150 years many chapels were added. By the middle of the sixteenth century, there were around fifty altars in the church. For more than a century after the Reformation, worship in St Giles' was affected by the disagreements about church government. In 1633, Charles I decided to appoint bishops in Scotland. St Giles' became a cathedral with a bishop appointed by Charles.