Abbeyhill is a suburb of Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, the capital of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

As with many other city suburbs, the area has varying definitions. Generally it may be taken to mean the part of town lying between Holyrood Park

Holyrood Park

Holyrood Park is a royal park in central Edinburgh, Scotland about a mile to the east of Edinburgh Castle. It has an array of hills, lochs, glens, ridges, basalt cliffs, and patches of whin providing a remarkably wild piece of highland landscape within its area...

 (and perhaps The Palace of Holyroodhouse itself) to the south, Meadowbank

Meadowbank, Edinburgh

Meadowbank is a suburb of Edinburgh in Scotland. It is best known for Meadowbank Stadium. The A1 road and East Coast Main Line railway to England run through this way.-External links:*...

 to the east; Calton Hill and Leith

Leith

-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....

 to the north; and the yards of Waverley Station

Edinburgh Waverley railway station

Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...

 to the west. It is in the locale of the recently constructed new Scottish Parliament

Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

 building, contains a number of old churches and other historic sites, and looks onto the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Abbeyhill is one of the oldest parts of the city, which takes its name from the ruined Holyrood Abbey

Holyrood Abbey

Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, and after the Scottish Reformation the Palace of Holyroodhouse was expanded...

, a major historic religious site. It originally featured a royal road from central Edinburgh to its port, Leith

Leith

-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....

. In the late 19th century, the Botanical Gardens at the east end of Princes Street

Princes Street

Princes Street is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, and its main shopping street. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1 mile from Lothian Road in the west to Leith Street in the east. The street is mostly closed to private...

 were relocated, and a new thoroughfare, Leith Walk, was constructed to provide that link.

The suburb is largely composed of residential streets such as Waverley Park and Milton Street, featuring tenement

Tenement

A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...

 flats which date from the late 19th century and colony houses

Colony houses

The colony houses of Edinburgh were built between 1850 and 1910 as homes for artisans and skilled working-class families by philanthropic model dwellings companies. The first development was the Pilrig Model Buildings, near Leith Walk. Later developments across the city were built by the Edinburgh...

on the north side of London Road. It is not a major retail or commercial area, with Meadowbank Retail Park and some small local shops centred around London Road, but is very close to city centre facilities.