The Camera Obscura at the top of the Royal Mile
549 Castlehill, Edinburgh EH1 2ND
Edinburgh is home to the oldest camera obscura in Britain, which first opened in 1853. The original proprietor of this popular tourist attraction was Maria Theresa Short, who came from a family of Edinburgh scientific instrument makers and had previously run a Popular Observatory on Calton Hill, before this was closed by the City Council in 1851. The camera obscura allows visitors to view scenes of the surrounding streets, projected onto a large table in the viewing room. Nowadays the other rooms in the tower are given over to a variety of exhibitions on optics.
The Camera Obscura and World of Illusions is open to the public on purchase of a ticket. See link below for times and prices.
Detail of the Camero Obscura tower.
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