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Hygieia goddess of health, stands in her circular Greek style temple beside the Water of Leith in central Edinburgh. |
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This statue commissioned around 1888, replaced the original version (below). |
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The temple was designed in 1789 by the landscape painter Alexander Nasmyth as a pump room for the mineral well known as St. Bernard's Well. The building is in coade stone supported by ten doric columns. The well water was said to have medicinal properties and became popular with rich people who gathered here to partake of the healing elixir! |
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The building is reached via a public footpath close to St. Bernard's Bridge. |
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Not my dog.......although I did find out his name was Louis! |
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There's a rural feel about the place and it's quite easy to forget we are in the city. |
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In the 1790's this estate,which bordered the newly built classical New Town, was bought by the celebrated portrait painter Sir Henry Raeburn. Raeburn lived in a mansion called St Bernard's on the north side of the river. The house was demolished shortly after his death in 1823 to make way for the buildings above. |
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The development at street level. |
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St. Bernard's Bridge is accessed from the left of the picture. |
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Dr James Hutton (1726-1816) - doctor,geologist, and experimental agriculturalist. He is accredited with being the first scientist to consider the earth to be alive. Portrait by Henry Raeburn. |
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Writer Elizabeth Hamilton (1756-1816) by Henry Raeburn. |
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Fiddler and bard Neil Gow (1727-1807) by Henry Raeburn. |
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Entrance to the old market place. |
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In a nearby shop window,Nipper the dog listens to his master's voice. Creating healing vibrations of a different sort the gramophone brought music into the homes of millions. |
Thank you for visiting
Raeburn portraits and temple engraving - image source Wikipedia.
17 comments:
wonderful wonderful thanks for the tour
Ah, lovely Hygeia with her pitcher and snake wrapped around it. It looks as though in the earlier version of her statue, there was no urn and snake so I'm very glad that was included. And of course she was one of the daughters of Asklepios. Such good memories of when I used to live there and often walked along by the river. Brilliant images of the Raeburn paintings too.
M xx
I have enjoyed the tour. It was a real journey to the old times.
I love to see the pictures of historic temples, buildings and surroundings!
What a great Greek Goddess!
I learned something from you today.
Thanks for sharing
Jorunn with smile
Wonderful place to relax & rejuvenate. The place is lovely & green and set amongst sylvan surroundings - has a calming & soothing effect.Thanks for sharing.
A lovely post to give us a tour around Edenburgh. As a child I went to a school which was situated at the "Hygieia square", never knew what that was, could not even pronounce it then. But know I do!
Oh thank you so much for all these great photos of such a beautiful place. Wonderful tour and felt I was there and could almost hear that water flowing. Very nice post. Thank you.
gloria
This is a kind of place I'd like to wander and explore.
I wonder what and why Elizabeth in her portrait was fiddling at with her beautiful fingers, a ring?
"Nipper the dog" is familiar here as well since some Japanese company used that logo. By the way, my cat sometimes takes that pose as showed in my icon. Maybe he is listening to my voice.
Have a lovely day, Ruby.
Wow..gorgeous post..love the statue of her..so beautiful..and such sweet dogs( both)..thanks for sharing such beautiful sceneries and wonderful stories..love the paintings too..very atmospheric! I have enjoyed my adventure here today..shine on and bright blessings!
Victoria
That was so very interesting, loved all the photos and such interesting history. Thanks so much :) Denise
It's very interesting for me that the well's water have medicinal properties.It's possible because of so beautiful,clear view.
Have a nice week!
A fascinating and beautiful tour, dear Ruby...thank you!!
I wish you a splendid and creative week... :)
Hugs and blessings,
- Irina
Hello, Ruby! This is the place I’d like to leisurely stroll around. Sitting by the stream to be tuned into the nature would be wonderful.
Hygieia goddess of health would be equivalent to our Bhaisajyaguru, or Buddha of Healing, who has a pot of medicine which cure all the diseases, physical, mental, and social. What does Hygieia hold in her right hand?
I feel nostalgia, because the first B&W TV set of my maiden family came from Victor Company (of Japan) which used “Master’s voice” logo. The ceramic statue of Nipper listening to the gramophone was displayed on our TV set.
Yoko
Excuse me, "His Master's Voice" logo.
Thats a lovely post....you show us very nice place and photo's..... thanks.
i appreciate your comment on my blog.
Greetings, Joop
http://joopzandfotografie.blogspot.nl
Oh, I didn´t see this pavilion when I visited Edinburgh, a lovely place....
This looks like such and idylllic and peaceful spot. Lovely post!
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