Mound

National Gallery of Scotland at The Mound

The Mound is an artificial hill in the center of Edinburgh ( Scotland ), connecting the Old Town with the New .

The hill was erected in the XVIII century , when, due to demographic problems, it was decided to expand Edinburgh by building the New City . For the embankment, 1,501,000 trolleys with soil obtained from the drainage of Nor Loch Lake were used, on the site of which then Princes Street Gardens and Princes Street appeared . The Mound was officially opened in 1781 . With the advent of railway stations in the drained valley and their further merger into Edinburgh Waverley Station in 1846, tunnels were dug under the hill to lay rails in a westerly direction.

View of The Mound (center) from Edinburgh Castle

Noteworthy buildings at The Mound include the National Gallery of Scotland , the Royal Scottish Academy , New College - the theological faculty of Edinburgh University , the General Assembly building of the Church of Scotland and the headquarters of Bank of Scotland .

The hill road of the same name is one of the main transport arteries between the Old and New Towns leading from Princess Street to the Royal Mile .