Arthur's Seat
Arthur's Seat (right) from Blackford Hill
Elevation:	251 m (822 ft)
Location:	Edinburgh, Scotland
Prominence:	c. 186 m
Topo map:	OS Landranger 66
OS grid reference:	NT275729
Listing:	Marilyn

Arthur's Seat on a summer evening

Arthur's Seat is the main peak of the group of hills which form most of Holyrood Park, a remarkably wild piece of highland landscape in the centre of the city of Edinburgh, about a mile to the east of Edinburgh Castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 822 feet (251 metres), provides excellent panoramic views of the city, is quite easy to climb, and is a popular walk. Though it can be climbed from almost any direction, the easiest and simplest ascent is from the East, where a grassy slope rises above Dunsapie Loch. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 777 KB) Salisbury Crags (left) and Arthurs Seat (right) in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... A topographical summit is a point on a surface which is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. ... metre or meter, see meter (disambiguation) The metre (in the U.S., chiefly meter) is a measure of length, approximately equal to 3. ... A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a meter. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; Dùn Èideann () in Scottish Gaelic) is the second-largest city in Scotland and the countrys capital city. ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height, shoulder drop or prime factor (in Europe), is a concept used in the categorization of hills and mountains. ... Example of a topographic map with contour lines Topographic maps, also called contour maps, topo maps or topo quads (for quadrangles), are maps that show topography, or land contours, by means of contour lines. ... Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... Peak bagging (also hill bagging, mountain bagging, or among enthusiasts, just bagging) is a popular activity for hillwalkers and mountaineers in which they attempt to reach the summit of each peak in a region above some height, or having a particular feature. ... A Marilyn is a hill with a relative height of at least 150 metres, regardless of absolute height or other merit. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 1924 KB) Arthurs Seat, Edinburgh, viewed from Pollock Halls Copyright © 2005 David Monniaux File links The following pages link to this file: Holyrood Park Arthurs Seat, Edinburgh ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 1924 KB) Arthurs Seat, Edinburgh, viewed from Pollock Halls Copyright © 2005 David Monniaux File links The following pages link to this file: Holyrood Park Arthurs Seat, Edinburgh ... Holyrood Park is a royal park in central Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; Dùn Èideann () in Scottish Gaelic) is the second-largest city in Scotland and the countrys capital city. ... A mile is any of a number of units of distance, each in the magnitude of 1–10 km. ... Edinburgh Castle and NorLoch, around 1780 by Alexander Nasmyth Edinburgh Castle is an ancient stronghold on the Castle Rock in the centre of the city of Edinburgh, has been in use by assorted military forces since 900 BC and only transferred from Ministry of Defence administration recently. ... This article is about a foot as a unit of length. ... metre or meter, see meter (disambiguation) The metre (in the U.S., chiefly meter) is a measure of length, approximately equal to 3. ... Holyrood Park is a royal park in central Edinburgh, Scotland. ...

Like the castle rock on which Edinburgh Castle is built, it was formed by an extinct volcano system which was swept by a glacier moving from west to east, exposing rocky crags to the west and leaving a tail of material swept to the east. This is how the Salisbury Crags formed and became basalt cliffs between Arthur's Seat and the city centre. Edinburgh Castle and NorLoch, around 1780 by Alexander Nasmyth Edinburgh Castle is an ancient stronghold on the Castle Rock in the centre of the city of Edinburgh, has been in use by assorted military forces since 900 BC and only transferred from Ministry of Defence administration recently. ... A volcano is a geological landform usually generated by the eruption through a planets surface of magma, molten rock welling up from the planets interior. ... Aletsch glacier, Switzerland A glacier is a large, long-lasting river of ice that is formed on land and moves in response to gravity. ... The Abbey Craig, a crag with tail near The University of Stirling. ... Salisbury Crags is a series of tall cliffs rising from the middle of Holyrood Park in Edinburgh. ...

Hillfort defences are visible round the main massif of Arthur's Seat at Dunsapie hill and above Samson's Ribs, in the latter cases certainly of prehistoric date. These forts are likely to have been centres of power of the Votadini, who were the subject of the poem 'Y Gododdin' which is thought to have been written about 600 CE in their hillfort on Edinburgh castle crag. The poem includes a simile comparing a warrior to King Arthur which (if not a later addition) may be one of the earliest references to Arthur, and hints at a possibility that his fame might have led to one of the hillforts and hence the hill being named after him. The Votadini (the Wotādīnī, or Votādīnī) were a people of the Iron Age in Great Britain, and their territory was briefly part of the Roman province Britannia. ... Gododdin (pronounced god-o-th-in), or Guotodin (Votadini in Latin), refers to both the people and to the region of a Dark Ages Brythonic kingdom south of the Firth of Forth, extending from the Stirling area to the Northumberland kingdom of Brynaich, and including what are now the Lothian... For other uses, see number 600. ... The Common Era (CE), sometimes known as the Christian Era or Current Era, is the period of measured time beginning with the year 1 (the traditional birthdate of Jesus) to the present. ... King Arthur is an important figure in the mythology of Great Britain, where he appears as the ideal of kingship in both war and peace. ...

The hill bears a strong resemblance to the Cavehill in Belfast in terms of its geology and proximity to a major urban site. Cave Hill Cavehill is a basaltic hill which overlooks the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ...

Reference

• Stuart Piggott: Scotland before History, Edinburgh University Press, 1982

External link

• Computer generated summit panoramas Arthur's Seat index

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Arthur's Seat