Tourist Attractions in Aberdeen:

Marischal College
On one side of Aberdeen's Broad Street stands the Marischal College. Founded in 1593 by George Keith, the fifth Earl Marischal of Dunnottar, it is the second-largest granite building in the world after Spain's El Escorial. Keith sought a Protestant counterbalance to the Catholic King's College in Old Aberdeen. Work started on the present college in 1837 with the 235ft/72m Mitchell Tower. Archibald Simpson supplied the plans for the huge four-winged edifice but the Neo-gothic west front was designed by A. Marshall MacKenzie and was built between 1890 and 1906. The Marischal Museum in the college possesses a superb anthropological collection, including exhibits from Egypt, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii and Tibet. However, the main emphasis in the museum is on the northeast of Scotland.

St Machar's Cathedral
St. Machar's Cathedral is believed to occupy the site of a small Celtic chapel erected by St Machar in 581. The cathedral which succeeded it was founded in 1136, although the earliest work in the present building dates only from the 14th century. The present building was begun in 1378 and completed in 1552. Note especially the striking towers on the West front, with sandstone spires dating from 1518-30; also the 16th century wooden ceiling painted with coats of arms.

Provost Ross's House / Maritime Museum
South of Aberdeen's Union Street, Shiprow leads off to Provost Ross's House (1593). Since 1984 it has housed the Maritime Museum. Models, photographs and paintings document the development of the Dee estuary's port, the tough life of the whale-hunters and herring fishermen and North Sea trade. Also on display are the legendary Aberdeen clippers that American ship owners used to secure their monopoly over the trade in China tea, including the "Stornaway", a prototype produced for Jardine Matheson in 1850. Another exhibition sheds light on the work of the North Sea drilling rigs

Provost Skene's House
Follow Aberdeen's Broad Street northwards and then fork left along the short Guest Row to Provost Skene's House just past the modern Tourist Information Center. Sir George Skene of Rubislaw was a prosperous merchant whose wealth was derived from trade with what is now the Baltic port of Gdansk. He was provost from 1676 to 1685. His home, the oldest standing residence in Aberdeen, now houses the Municipal Museum. Several floors contain locally-excavated artifacts and these help to document the town's history from the Cromwell era to Victorian times. The plasterwork in the old bedroom (1676) and the painted wooden ceilings (17th century) in the picture gallery are of note. The "Maiden" Guillotine on the upper floor is a reminder of Aberdeen's darker side. 

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