Mary Kings Close
| Location | City of Edinburgh, Scotland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 55.9503, -3.1903 |
| Access | Public - guided tour only, ticketed, book ahead; steep and confined underground |
Mary King’s Close was one of the narrow lanes that grew from Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, named for Mary King, a businesswoman recorded in the 1630s. The close did not begin as an underground street: in the eighteenth century, new city buildings were constructed over older parts of the Old Town, leaving some spaces beneath the later structures. The preserved rooms and passageways now offer a rare view into how people lived and worked in the crowded historic centre.
The rest of this file is sealed. 2 more sections: what happened next, what people still report, and how to visit.
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