Edinburgh

Towns & Villages

LEITH

Leith Coastal Defences -
Photo: Richard Webb CCL

A difficult place to dismiss, Leith has been a seaport of some importance since the Middle Ages.





It was twice sacked by the English in the 16th century and was where Mary Queen of Scots made landfall when she returned from France in 1561.

 

A year earlier the Treaty of Leith had ended the Scottish wars of religion without permanently resolving the problem.





Today Leith is a busy tourist-cum-shopping centre.
 

HM Yacht Britannia - Photo: Richard Rimmer CCL

Moules on the Waterfront - Photo: Lisa J CCL

One of its crowd-pleasers is The Royal Yacht Britannia – now a museum piece -which is moored alongside the area's shopping mall.






Leith also hosts an arts-and-drama festival each June.