Castlegate is a small area of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, located centrally at the east end of the city's main thoroughfare Union Street. Generally speaking, locals consider it to encompass the square at the end of Union Street where the Mercat Cross and Gallowgate are located. At the upper end of Castlegate stands

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

Citadel, an effective castellated mansion, on the site of the medieval

Aberdeen Castle Aberdeen Castle was a late Middle Ages fortification, in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was situated on Castle Hill, a site today known as the Castlegate, and the location of the castle is now occupied by blocks of flats. Burned and demolished It is ...

. Castlegate was named after the site of the castle gates until their destruction in 1308.

Aberdeen's Mercat Cross Aberdeen's Mercat Cross was built in 1686 by John Montgomery, an Aberdeen architect. It is in the Castlegate area in the old burgh of New Aberdeen. This open-arched structure, 21 ft (6 m) in diameter and 18 ft (5 m) high, is a large he ...

was built in 1686 by John Montgomery, a native architect. This open-arched structure, 21 ft (6 m) in diameter and 18 ft (5 m) high, is a large hexagonal base from the centre of which rises a shaft with a Corinthian capital, on which is the royal

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...

. The base is highly decorated, including medallions illustrating Scottish monarchs from

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

James VII James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685, until he was deposed in the 1688 Glor ...

. According to local legend, the ghost of a unicorn can be seen to circle the Castlegate when a full moon is visible. Originally erected opposite the Mercat Cross, a statue of George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon, erected in 1844, was relocated to Golden Square in the 1950s. To the east of Castle Street were the Castlehill Barracks, which were demolished in 1965 and replaced with two tower blocks. The Gallowgate, just off the main square, is named after the former site of the gallows. A small area of the old granite road pavings remains in the bus lane, next to the courts, just the spot where public hangings were conducted. To the west, just off the main square, is the Castlegate Well, which is no longer used. A small bronze statue was erected over the top by William Lindsay, a goldsmith then in charge of the city's water. The Castlegate was used as a terminus for the Aberdeen Corporation Tramways system and later for buses.

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External links

* {{coord, 57.14804, N, 2.09337, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Areas of Aberdeen Salvation Army buildings Salvationism in Scotland