Parliament House

Parliament House stands in Edinburgh’s Old Town, beside St Giles’ Cathedral on the Royal Mile. The complex contains the Supreme Courts of Scotland, the Scottish Land Court and the Lands Tribunal. Its oldest part, Parliament Hall, was the first purpose-built parliament building in the world, used from 1639 to 1707. James Murray designed the original structure, completed in 1639 at a cost paid by the town council. Funds also came from Edinburgh residents through subscriptions and loans that burdened the city’s finances for years. The building occupies the site of former burial grounds and three manses demolished to make way. Parliament House is worth the journey for its role in Scottish legal and political history. Charles I became the first monarch to attend sessions here in 1641, and future monarchs James VII and Anne also visited. The hall hosted debates on the Treaty of Union between 1706 and 1707 before the Parliament of Scotland was dissolved. The building later became the seat of the Court of Session, High Court of Justiciary and other courts after the union. Between 1815 and 1824 it served as a concert hall for Handel’s Messiah and Haydn’s The Creation during music festivals. Visitors find Parliament Hall with its 122-foot oak roof supported on carved stone corbels. The walls once held tapestries and portraits of Scottish monarchs, and the Great Window of 1868 commemorates James V’s College of Justice. The complex includes the Advocates Library and the Signet Library, and the entire site is a Category A listed building. Statues of Justice and Mercy, once on the facade, now stand inside. The building’s L-shaped plan and ashlar dressings reflect its 17th-century origins.