The University was founded in 1495 and was originally known as King’s College. Aberdeen is the third oldest University in Scotland following St Andrews (1412) and Glasgow (1451). The founder was William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, who has much support from King James IV of Scotland (1488-1513). Many of the old academic buildings survive at and around King’s College and the modern University as grafted its new structures around this beautiful, ancient core.

Yet there is more to see in Old Aberdeen than just the University. There is a fine medieval Cathedral, named after Saint Machar, with its own precinct and early layout. And there grew close by the trading settlement of Old Aberdeen, which functioned as a formal burgh with its own jurisdiction from 1489-1891. Its legacy presents a market are and the frontages of houses from the grandiose to the tiny, which belonged to a delightfully mixed urban society. Over the centuries this combination of church, University and trading post has created a townscape that is unique in Scotland. Although always small in size, it enjoyed its high status. Finally hemmed in by the great City of Aberdeen, Old Aberdeen remains a historical gem of excellent visual quality. Today it is home also to dynamic University with over 14,000 students.