Castle Rock is the hard core of a volcano that died some 350 million years ago. With cliffs on three sides, it was a natural fortress, and people lived on it long before the castle. By the 12th century it was a royal castle of the kings of Scotland.
The oldest building in Edinburgh, St Margaret's Chapel, was built here around 1130. During the wars between Scotland and England, the castle changed hands again and again and was besieged many times.
Today it holds the Honours of Scotland, the oldest crown jewels in Britain, and the Stone of Destiny, returned to Scotland in 1996. The One O'Clock Gun has been fired from its walls since 1861. The castle is part of the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995.
