File:Fisher's Close, Lawnmarket - geograph.org.uk - 1338626.jpg

English: Fisher's Close, Lawnmarket In the pre-skyscraper age Edinburgh's tenements were believed to be the tallest domestic buildings in the world, a fact often remarked upon by visitors. One such, Edward Topham, wrote in 1774 that "The buildings are all of them of stone (...) and those in the high street extremely elevated, especially behind, where some of them are ten or twelve stories; and one, I think, is said to be thirteen (...). The reason the buildings are so much higher behind than towards the street, is on account that they are situated on the edge of the hill, in order that the street might be wider, and take up the whole of the ridge, which is about thirty yards across. Their buildings are divided by extremely thick partition walls, into large houses, which are here called lands, and each storey of a land is called a house. (...) As each house is occupied by a family, a land, being so large, contains many families; that I make no manner of doubt but that the High Street in Edinburgh is inhabited by a greater number of persons than any street in Europe. The ground-floors and cellars are in general made use of for shops by the tradesmen; who here style themselves Merchants, as in France; and the higher houses are possessed by the genteeler people."