National Monument on Calton Hill
Did you know that National Monument on Calton Hill variously called "Scotland's Disgrace" or "Scotland's Pride and Poverty" or "Edinburgh's Shame" was supposed to have been a memorial to the Scots who died in the Napoleonic Wars. The idea was to create a copy of the Parthenon in Athens (Edinburgh is sometimes called the "Athens of the North").
Work started in late October of 1822, with well-known figures including Sir Walter Scott and Sir Henry Cockburn planning on paying the £42,000 cost. However, construction ground to a halt in 1825 with just the 12 ‘Doric’ columns and the base completed, as less than half of the subscription had been paid.
