About Us
Opened in 2003, The Real Mary King’s Close is an award-winning, 5-star visitor attraction located in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town. Explore this unique warren of hidden streets and spaces on our 1-hour social history tour. Learn more about us by scrolling down…
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Who runs The Real Mary King’s Close?
Continuum Attractions was chosen to develop and operate The Real Mary King’s Close as a world-class visitor attraction by the City of Edinburgh Council. As the leading operator of cultural and heritage experiences in the UK, Continuum manages an award-winning portfolio of visitor attractions including The Loch Ness Centre, Oxford Castle & Prison and York’s Chocolate Story.
The history of The Real Mary King’s Close
A warren of underground streets and spaces, The Close can be a strange concept to understand. “Close” is a Scottish word for a narrow alleyway. Back in the 1600’s, Mary King’s Close, and its neighbouring closes, were at the heart of Edinburgh’s busiest and most vibrant streets; open to the skies, and bustling with traders selling their wares to the residents Of Edinburgh’s Old Town.
Why would this street find itself underground 400 years later?
For years, the hidden closes of Old Town Edinburgh have been shrouded in myths and mysteries, with blood curdling tales of ghosts and murders, and of plague victims being walled up and left to die. Research and archaeological evidence has revealed a truer story, rooted in fact, and – as is so often the case – more fascinating than any amount of fiction.
Experience history through the eyes of the people who lived it. Step down onto the streets beneath The Royal Mile to travel back in time with one of the former residents of this underground labyrinth…
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