Hub (Edinburgh)

The main attraction of the building, located in the center of the Scottish capital, is the city’s tallest 73-meter tower. The temple gives the impression of an ancient, although it was built in the middle of the XIX century . This is due to the peculiarities of the local sandstone , which absorbs smog well. According to some reports, construction began in 1839 and was completed in five years (in 1844), according to others - it went from 1842 to 1845 ^{[4] [5] [6]} .

There are various names for this building: St. John's Church on Mount Tolbus ( Eng. Highland Tolbooth St. John's Church ), Tolbus Kirk ( Gaelic. Tolbooth Kirk ), Victoria Hall ( Eng. Victoria Hall ) ^[7] . The temple was erected not far from St. Giles Cathedral on the Edinburgh Royal Mile as a parish church and meeting place for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland . The construction was carried out according to the design of architects Augustus Welby Pugin and James Gillespie Graham ^{[1] [4] [6]} .

The neo-gothic building , topped with the highest spire , immediately became an important visual dominant in the city. The temple functioned until 1979 , when it was closed due to the unification of the Church of Scotland with the United Free Church of Scotland . For the surrounding parish, services began to be held in the nearby Franciscan church , and for meetings of the hierarchs the city provided the building of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on Mound . For a while the temple of St. John was empty. Only in 1999 , after the internal reconstruction, it housed the Hub ( English Hub ) - the headquarters and information center of the famous Edinburgh festivals ^{[2] [4] [5]} .

Currently, the interior of the building consists of several rooms, the largest of them can accommodate 420 people. There is also a library and a cafe. Interior premises are rented for receptions, banquets, wedding ceremonies ^[3] .

The Great Hall, which is called the Victoria Hall or the General Assembly Hall, was sometimes used to hold parliamentary meetings until the completion of the new Scottish Parliament building in 2004 opposite the Holyrood Palace ^[8] .

Various artists who worked on renovating the interior of the building sought to create harmony between the past and modern art with their decorative elements. The red carpet , inviting to the entrance, was made by Caroline Vincent ( eng. Carole Vincent ) in the form of a patterned strip of multicolored concrete tiles. Movement along the main stairs is accompanied by sculptures by Jill Watson on the shelves along the walls. More than 200 plaster figures represent theater festivals with opera and ballet musical performances. On the shelves of the upper tier of the stairs "Steps to art" shows the figures of applauding spectators. The windows of Christian Shaw ( Eng. Christian Shaw ) enhance the illumination of the interior thanks to glass fragments and special lenses fused into the sheet glass that is yellow on the outside. Decorative elements of the flaming Gothic were actively used by Jacqui Poncelet ( Eng. Jacqui Poncelet ) to more clearly emphasize the connection between modernity and the past ^[9] .

The hub is open constantly, it regularly hosts concerts and theatrical performances. Every year the building is visited by more than 500,000 tourists and visitors to the city ^[3] . The most turbulent period of the Hub's work falls on summertime, when one after another, or even at the same time, different Edinburgh festivals open. Hundreds of thousands of spectators and participants from around the world flock to Edinburgh, doubling the urban population. It is no coincidence that the capital of Scotland is called the world festival capital ^[10] .

Director of the Edinburgh International Festival, Jonathan Mills , answering journalists' questions, explains the secrets of the popularity of the annual summer capital holidays with their diversity, openness and lack of formality ^[11] .

• History on the official site (eng.)