SOUTH BRIDGE & VAULTS

The South Bridge in Edinburgh, a marvel of 18th-century engineering, was constructed to span the Cowgate gorge, connecting the High Street to the university area. Built between 1785 and 1788, the bridge featured 19 stone arches and was an ambitious project designed to support the city's expansion. However, the bridge's construction was met with superstition and fear. A notable tale from its early days tells of the bridge being deemed cursed after the first to cross it did so posthumously, in a coffin, leading many to avoid the bridge for years.

The vaults beneath the South Bridge, known as the Edinburgh Vaults, provided storage and workshop space initially. Over time, as conditions deteriorated due to dampness and lack of maintenance, the vaults became a refuge for the city's poor, criminals, and even infamous characters like the body snatchers Burke and Hare, who allegedly murdered 16 people and sold their bodies for medical dissection in 1828. This grim history contributes to the vaults' haunting reputation today.

Rediscovered in the 1980s after being filled in with rubble and forgotten for over a century, the Edinburgh Vaults are now a popular attraction, offering a glimpse into the city's darker history. Mercat Tours runs various tours of the vaults, capitalizing on their eerie and purportedly haunted nature. Stories of unexplained phenomena, such as ghostly encounters, have only added to the allure, attracting tourists and ghost hunters alike​.

Today, the South Bridge and the vaults beneath it serve as a testament to Edinburgh's rich and complex history, from architectural ambition and societal expansion to the city's underbelly of crime and poverty. These underground chambers, once a place of misery and darkness, now captivate the imagination of visitors from around the world, keen to explore the depths of Edinburgh's past​.