The Edinburgh Dungeon is an underground tourist attraction in Edinburgh's city centre, on East Market Street, which uses live actor shows and interactive rides to show various historical events from Scottish history in a scary fun style, with audience interaction and special effects, theatrical sets and performance. The shows are laced with tongue in cheek, gallows humour typical of the Dungeon brand.

History

The Edinburgh Dungeon was founded in 2000 by Vardon Attractions (now Merlin Entertainments) founder and now CEO, Nick Varney. Based on the same principles as the

London Dungeon The London Dungeon is a tourist attraction along London's South Bank, England, which recreates various gory and macabre historical events in a gallows humour style. It uses a mixture of live actors, special effects and rides. History The Lo ...

, early characters included

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...

Burke and Hare The Burke and Hare murders were a series of sixteen killings committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection ...

, and scenes from Edinburgh's famously plague-ridden 'closes' (alleyways). Since its opening, it has evolved to feature walkthrough theatrical shows, such as Witch Hunt (based on the witch trials of the mid-17th century), and the cannibal cave of

Sawney Bean Alexander "Sawney" Bean was said to be the head of a 45-member clan in Scotland in the 16th century that murdered and cannibalized over 1,000 people in 25 years. According to legend, Bean and his clan members were eventually caught by a search ...

, based on the legend of the notorious cannibal family who resided in a cave in Galloway for decades.

Format

The Edinburgh Dungeon features 11 shows, 15 actors and 2 rides. Visitors are taken on a journey through 500 years of Edinburgh's history where they meet actors performing as some of Edinburgh's most infamous characters, including Agnes Finnie, Burke & Hare,

and The Green Lady Elizabeth Elphinstone. The Dungeon's shows are staged on theatrical sets with special effects, including shaking floors, spinning walls, levitation gags and air jets. The show incorporates events such as The Plague, the witch trials, and includes characters such as 'The Torturer', 'The Foul Clenger' (Plague Cleaner), and 'The Judge'. Guests are encouraged to participate in all shows. The experience also includes a Drop Ride to Doom, which is a free-fall ride, staged as a public hanging. In November 2016, the Edinburgh Dungeon underwent major construction in order to expand the offering and install new show areas. In a project worth over £500,000 they installed a steel structure that now houses their Witch Hunt show, which features Agnes Finnie and the Witch 'Pricker', charged with extracting her confession. The show also features many special effects, which, at the time of installation, was a world first combination.

Related attractions

The Edinburgh Dungeon is part of the

Merlin Entertainments Group Merlin Entertainments Limited is a British entertainment company based at Poole in Dorset, England. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until November 2019, when it was acquired by a consortium that includes Kirkbi A/S (the investment a ...

, and is one of eight Dungeons in Europe.

The Amsterdam Dungeon The Amsterdam Dungeon, in the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands, follows a similar format to the London Dungeon, York Dungeon, Berlin Dungeon and Hamburg Dungeon which are owned and operated by UK-based Merlin Entertainments and attempts to show hi ...

, Berlin Dungeon, the

Blackpool Tower Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the List of tallest buildings in the British Empire and the Commonwealth, tallest man m ...

Dungeon, The Castle Dungeon at

Warwick Castle Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort, originally built by William the Conqueror during 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a meander of the River Avon. The original wooden motte-an ...

Hamburg Dungeon Built in 2000, the Hamburg Dungeon is a tourist attraction from a chain including the London Dungeon and Berlin Dungeon. It is the first of this brand to be built in mainland Europe. It provides a journey through Hamburg’s dark history in ...

, and the

York Dungeon York Dungeon is a tourist attraction in York, England. York Dungeon depicts history of the dungeon using actor led shows, special effects and displays of models and objects. The York Dungeons reopened in March 2013 after a period of closure du ...

are also part of the Dungeon Group.

External links

{{coords, 55.9511, -3.1909, display=title 2000 establishments in Scotland Buildings and structures in Edinburgh Tourist attractions in Edinburgh Animatronic attractions Merlin Entertainments Group Reportedly haunted locations in Edinburgh