The castle of Edinburgh

Even today, the Castle of Edinburgh remains very strong and is perched high up on a large rocky hillside. This royal castle looms large over its city and is like no other in Europe. The Castle of Edinburgh has hosted many bloody and heroic episodes in the history of Scotland.
In fact, the history Scotland revolves around the Edinburgh Castle.

The rock that the castle lies on was formed 340 million years ago during a period of volcanic activity. Molten magma was thrown into the atmosphere from the depths of the earth. Over hundreds and even thousands of years, lava spread and created a huge volcano. The lava cooled slowly and after millions of years. The volcano was gradually buried under sedimentary rocks.

During the ice age, sheets of ice eroded these rocks and finally only the heart of the volcano remained. The very hard volcanic rock protected these sedimentary rocks and once the ice sheets melted, they left behind the most famous crag and tail in the world. This came to be known as the Castle Rock and the Royal Mile was formed.

It was probably during the Stone Age that man probably walked on Castle Rock for the first time. The presence of people was certified the remnants left on the rocky outcrop that was left from the time of the Bronze Age (around 900 BC). Archaeological excavations indicate the existence of large groups of round houses that were scattered on the rocky outcrop.
This area was very lively when Roman legions advanced towards the north, in 78 AD to fight the indigenous people of Caledonia.

The Romans called the local tribe "Votadini", it later, came to be known as the "Gododdin. It is this tribe that is associated with Castle Rock when it was mentioned in historical records (for the first time around 600 AD under the name "Eydin Din” or the Fortress Eydin). It is unclear whether "Eidyn" is a character or place, but the legends refer to a giant named "Red sparks." At the time, this fortress belonged to one of their king’s, Mynyddog, the Magnificent.

The poem "Y Goddodin" written by Aneirin, tells of a great battle in Yorkshire that took place between Goddodin and the Angles invaders who had just arrived from Europe and from whose name ‘England’ has its origins in. This battle ended with the defeat of Goddodin Eidyn and Din was captured in 638. Angles renamed the rock Edinburgh and it still bears this name today.