Located on Market Street in central Edinburgh, next to Waverley Bridge, is the Edinburgh Dungeon, one of a chain of dungeon tourist attractions. With exhibits including the murderers and grave robbers Burke and Hare, Robert the Bruce's heart and a reconstruction of the cave which was home to the notorious cannibal Sawney Bean, the dungeon is designed to terrorise tourists by taking them on a ride through the more gory elements of Scotland's past. Other experiences include the Old Town of Edinburgh as it was centuries ago, complete with dirt, disease, waste being thrown from a tenement window and the 'body cart' waiting to pick up the unfortunate victims of plague. The medical history of the city is also represented, with early attempts at surgery portrayed and the mortuary where those who died were brought.
There is also a range of torture equipment on display, including the innocently-named 'maiden' guillotine, used to execute Edinburgh criminals between 1564 and 1720, together with headcrushers, thumbscrews and flesh tearers.
This commercial attraction cost £5 million and was built by Merlin Entertainment, which also owns and runs similar dungeons in London (opened 1975), York (opened 1986) and Hamburg (opened 2000), together with a chain of Sea Life centres across Europe.
