The National Galleries

Five different Galleries

Today, the National Galleries of Scotland have five different buildings in Edinburgh:

1.   The National Gallery, The Mound  -   built 1820s  -  acquired early 2000s

2.  The Royal Scottish Academy, The Mound  -  built 1850s

3.   The Portrait Gallery, Queen Street

4.   The Gallery of Modern Art,  Belford Road  -  opened 1984

5.   Dean Gallery,  Belford Road  -  opened 1999

Nos 1. and 2. above are close to each other at the foot of The Mound.  Both were designed by Playfair.  Work is underway linking these two galleries together.

3. is a large Victorian building in Queen Street, shared with the National Museum of Antiquities, but the latter is gradually moving it exhibits to the National Museum of Scotland, and so creating more space for the National Portrait Gallery's exhibits.

Nos 4. and 5. are on opposite sides of the road, above Dean Village.  No 4 is housed in what was originally John Watson's Orphanage.

  ©

No 5 has a new landscaped garden.

Bus Service

The National Galleries has provided a free hourly bus service linking these galleries, but unfortunately this service will no longer operate from 25 February 2008 onwards.

Below,  the bus can be seen travelling up the Mound passing in front of the Southern Entrance to the National Galleries on 19 September 2002.  The normal Northern Entrance to the Galleries is temporarily out of use as work continues to create an underground link between the Royal Scottish Academy and the National Galleries of Scotland.