In this section
Statues & Monuments
This North-east corner of Scotland has a long and captivating history, the legends of which live on today in the statues and monuments throughout Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
In the city centre find a fascinating trail of statues including some of Scotland’s most significant heroic figures. Find Robert the Bruce positioned proudly against the backdrop of the second largest granite building in the world; Marischal College. Outside His Majesty’s Theatre discover the seated Albert the Prince Consort and welcoming William Wallace statues (according to local legend, after being hung, drawn and quartered, his arm is said to have been interred in the wall at St Machar’s Cathedral). Just a stone’s throw away, Robert Burns’ statue stands tall at the edge of Union Terrace Gardens.
At the ancient Castlegate, find The Mercat Cross – the traditional heart of the burgh - and the Gordon Highlanders Monument – recognising the regiment that Winston Churchill once called ‘the finest Regiment in the world’.
In Aberdeenshire, mysterious standing stones tell a long history of settlement. Stone circles were erected between c.2700 – 2000 BC (the Bronze Age) and around 10% of the total number of stone circles recorded in Britain can be found in Aberdeenshire. You’ll even find a unique style of circle here - the Recumbent Stone Circle.
And as a key part of the Pictish community, Aberdeenshire is home to a large number of the elaborately decorated Symbol Stones for which the Picts are famed – in fact approximately 20% of all Pictish stones recorded in Scotland can be found in Aberdeenshire.
