EDINBURGH (AFP).- Heritage sites reopen across Scotland for the first time this year on Friday and after the longest closure since World War II, as coronavirus restrictions are gradually eased.

Edinburgh Castle is one of more than 20 ticketed venues and over 200 free attractions run by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to welcome back visitors.

HES chief executive Alex Paterson said daily visitor numbers to the ancient stronghold and former royal residence will be well below pre-pandemic highs of 10,000.

But he hopes up to 1,200 people will come every day.

"We are delighted to reopen Edinburgh Castle and clearly we are not anticipating the same number of visitors that used to come pre-Covid, at least not in the short term," he told AFP.

"We haven't had to close our sites for this length of time since the Second World War, so by any measure this has been a very significant lockdown for us and for lots of tourism and business organisations across Scotland.

"Not having thousands of visitors every day has an impact but we've been able to weather that. We have had additional support from the Scottish government which has been greatly appreciated."

The landmark bastion, which towers over the city from Castle Rock, is one of Scotland's most popular tourist attractions and houses Britain's oldest crown jewels, the Honours of Scotland.

They include a crown and sceptre used to crown Mary, Queen of Scots in 1543. The Honours were hidden after the Act of Union joining England and Scotland in 1707, then rediscovered.

Closure nightmare




New measures to facilitate social distancing have been introduced, including painted circles around the castle’s signature One O'Clock Gun, which is fired every at 1:00 pm, except Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day.

QR codes, a new queueing system and audio guides have also been introduced.

Site manager Eric Dryden said he was relieved after enduring months of forced closure and had put in three weeks of preparation for the reopening.

"It's been heartbreaking not being able to come here every day and welcome visitors. I think everybody has found this pandemic horrendous and it's been a nightmare," he said.

"We have a partnership with the businesses on Castle Hill and everybody has been struggling. We're hoping people will come back in due course and we will try and thrive again."

Just 70 percent of sites run by HEC will reopen on Friday and include some of Scotland's leading attractions, including Stirling Castle, St Andrews Castle and Melrose Abbey.

Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, 7,659 people have died after testing positive for Covid-19 in Scotland -- a fraction of the more than 127,000 people who have lost their lives in the UK overall.

Pubs, "non-essential" retail and leisure facilities, including gyms, swimming pools and nail bars reopened across Scotland last week after months of closure and restrictions.

In Edinburgh, the city's international arts festival, which was cancelled last year because of the outbreak, will return this August using temporary outdoor pavilions.


© Agence France-Presse