THE hidden streets beneath Scotland’s capital city are to be opened to the public for one night only so visitors can explore its secret passageways at their leisure.
Guests will be able to stroll beneath the Royal Mile to see preserved homes and businesses where people once lived, worked, and died.
More than 200 years ago streets and closes in the city were sealed away beneath the new Royal Exchange.
And they were preserved in time until they were opened again in the 19th century.
Now, for one night only The Real Mary King’s Close tourist attraction will replace its usual guided tour with a chance for visitors to wander the streets at their own pace.
They will be able to uncover hidden tales, and interact with the past.
The tourist attraction was recently crowned the UK’s best.
And it was ranked 11th best visitor attraction in Europe in the 2024 TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards – Best of the Best.
The Real Mary King’s Close blends history with storytelling, and immersive experiences by using actors to interact with guests as they explore the gloomy depths of old Edinburgh.
Guests at ‘Underground Unlocked’ will come ‘face to face ‘with the people who once called The Close home.
They include the plague doctor, John Paulitious, Mary Stewart, Mary Queen of Scots, who spent her last night in Edinburgh in Pearson’s Close.
The renowned poet Robert Fergusson and Janet Chesney, mother of the Close’s final resident, also feature.
Paul Nixon, General Manager at The Real Mary King’s Close, said: “Our new Underground Unlocked events give a rare chance to explore The Real Mary King’s Close at your own pace for up to two hours.
“During the one-off experience, guests will meet and interact with up to 13 historic residents, and step inside preserved homes and businesses, exactly as they stood centuries ago.
“We wanted to give an idea of what the streets would have been like back in the 17th when the Close would have been bustling with life.”
The experience will take place on one night only – March 13.
The ghostly figure of a woman seen in a doorway in The Real Mary King’s Close tourist attraction, Edinburgh[/caption]
