Scotland's Granite City — a North Sea oil capital hewn from silver granite, the two oldest medieval university buildings in the English-speaking world, Deeside whisky country, and the gateway to the Scottish Highlands
Aberdeen is Scotland's third-largest city, built almost entirely from locally quarried grey granite that catches the northern light and makes the city shimmer — giving it the nickname 'The Silver City' or 'The Granite City.' The University of Aberdeen (1495) is the fifth-oldest university in the English-speaking world, and its King's College chapel (1506) with its distinctive crown tower is one of the most beautiful medieval buildings in Scotland. The North Sea oil industry transformed Aberdeen into one of the wealthiest cities in Britain from the 1970s — the oil capital of Europe. Royal Dees…
Aberdeen's two medieval towns — Old Aberdeen (around the cathedral and university) and New Aberdeen (the port and market town) — were separate burghs for centuries before formally merging in 1891. The city's recorded history begins with the founding of St Machar's Cathedral in the 12th century. William the Lion granted New Aberdeen its first royal charter in 1179. King's College, the centrepiece of Old Aberdeen, was founded in 1495 by Bishop William Elphinstone under a papal bull from Pope Alexander VI — making it one of the earliest universities in the English-speaking world. Aberdeen's port…