The Palace of Holyroodhouse
Debtors once ran for this palace's doorstep to escape arrest, and a royal stag-hunting legend gave it its name. Today it's the King's Scottish home.
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Quick Facts
- Location
- Foot of the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, opposite the Scottish Parliament
- Origins
- Holyrood Abbey, founded 1128 by David I
- Palace begun
- Around 1501 under James IV; largely rebuilt 1671-78
- Architect of the present palace
- Sir William Bruce, with Robert Mylne as master mason
- Role
- Official residence of the monarch in Scotland
- Famous for
- Mary, Queen of Scots and the murder of David Rizzio in 1566
- Setting
- Beside Holyrood Park and Arthur's Seat
- Notable feature
- Great Gallery of Scottish royal portraits by Jacob de Wet
The stag, the cross and a palace named after both
The story goes that in 1128 King David I went hunting on a holy day, against advice, and was thrown from his horse and threatened by a charging stag. A cross, the Holy Rood, appeared between its antlers, the animal fled, and the grateful king founded an abbey on the spot. Whether or not you believe the stag, the abbey was real and the name stuck. 'Holyrood' simply means holy cross. The abbey's guesthouse gradually became a royal lodging, and the royal lodging became a palace. The stag still turns up in Edinburgh heraldry, and he is carved into the fountain in the palace forecourt.
From guesthouse to Renaissance showpiece
James IV turned the royal rooms into a proper palace from about 1501, in time to welcome his bride Margaret Tudor in 1503. James V then added the great north-west tower in the early 1530s, and it is the oldest part of the palace you see today. By the 16th century Holyrood was the main royal home in Edinburgh, a more comfortable choice than the castle on its rock at the other end of the Royal Mile. Charles I was crowned King of Scots in the abbey church in 1633.
Mary, Queen of Scots and a very bloody supper
Mary, Queen of Scots lived at Holyrood from 1561 to 1567, and the palace is forever tied to her. On 9 March 1566 she was at supper in a small room in the tower with her secretary David Rizzio when a party of conspirators, including her husband Lord Darnley, burst in. Rizzio was dragged out and stabbed to death. Visitors are shown the spot, and a plaque marks where the bloodstain is said to be. Guides will happily tell you it can never be scrubbed away. Treat that part as legend; the murder itself is well documented. Mary's rooms in the tower are among the most visited in the palace, and they are small, dark and intimate, which makes the story feel closer.
The palace Charles II paid for but never saw
Much of what you see today was built after the Restoration. Charles II ordered the palace rebuilt as a grand classical residence, and Sir William Bruce designed it between 1671 and 1678. Its quadrangle with arcaded walks looks more like a French château than a Scottish tower house. Charles II never set foot in it. He still wanted it to look the part, and he commissioned the Dutch painter Jacob de Wet to fill the Great Gallery with portraits of Scottish kings. Many of the early ones are legendary figures, which is a lot of faces for a monarchy that sometimes stretched back into myth. The gallery was later the setting for a ball hosted by Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745, when he held court at Holyrood for several weeks during the Jacobite rising.
A sanctuary for debtors, and a ruined abbey
For centuries the abbey precincts around Holyrood were a legal sanctuary. Anyone in debt could shelter within the boundary and avoid arrest, as long as they stayed put. On Sundays, when arrests were not allowed, they could slip out for a stroll. Small S-shaped markers set into the cobbles near the palace still show where the sanctuary began. The abbey church was later left to decay, and its roof collapsed in 1768. The roofless nave remains one of the most atmospheric ruins in Edinburgh, standing right beside the palace. The palace was damaged by fire in 1650 while Cromwell's troops were quartered there, but it was repaired and has been in royal use ever since.
What to look for when you visit
Start in the Great Gallery, then climb to Mary's chambers. Keep an eye out for the plaster ceilings and tapestries in the state apartments, which are still used for official receptions and ceremonies. Walk through the abbey ruins and out to the gardens, where the royal garden parties are held in summer. Beyond them rises Arthur's Seat, and the palace looks very small against the crags. The monarch stays here for a week each summer, known as Holyrood Week, with ceremonies marking the link between the Crown and Scotland. Across the road is the Scottish Parliament building, which opened in 2004, and the contrast between old and new is part of the fun.
Notable people
- David I
- James IV
- James V
- Mary, Queen of Scots
- David Rizzio
- Lord Darnley
- Charles II
- Sir William Bruce
- Jacob de Wet
- Bonnie Prince Charlie
Test yourself
Play the UK quizMore to see nearby
The Royal Mile
Published
It's a mile long, but not quite an English mile: Edinburgh's great ridge-top street runs from a castle on a volcano to a palace in a park, and it's packed with ghosts, saints and hanged gentlemen.