Marischal College, Aberdeen

When we were in Aberdeen last week I was keen to take some pics of Marischal College, which is another of the instantly recognisable city landmarks I remember so well from childhood.

This grand Victorian building was built from 1835 onwards, and is apparently the second largest granite building on the world. It was originally built as a university building, on the site of multiple previous university buildings going as far back as 1593, but with the gradual expansion and eventual relocation of Aberdeen University, since the early 21st Century it has instead provided dedicated office space for the headquarters of the City Council.

I remember it being much duller in colour (as in perpetually darkened by sooty city grime), but thankfully relatively recent refurbishment has cleaned up the silvery sparkling granite stone beautifully, showing it off at its best.

Ideally I’d have liked to have taken a sweeping vista from along the street showing off the entire frontage, but there was a seasonal ‘Christmas Village’ in the process of being constructed along the roadway directly in front and also to the side of the building, so the whole area apart from access to the actual entrance itself was temporarily closed off to the public while preparations were being made.

Still, I’ve captured the main entrance in the first shot, and the entire edifice above looking upwards in the second. The third shot is showing the myriad pinnacles that adorn the top of the building, which give a very over-the-top fancy finish to an otherwise solid construction.

The final shot is taken just around the corner from the college, at what will be one entrance to the Christmas Village – you can see the beginnings of the spires of Marischal College showing in the background on the far right 🙂

Thursday Doors