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Aberdeen, often called The Granite city, is Scotland's third largest city, with a population of approximately 202,370. Aberdeen is the chief commercial centre and seaport in the north-east of Scotland. The city is often referred to as the Oil capital of Europe thanks to becoming, in the 1970s, a major service base for the extraction of crude oil in the North Sea.

Granite city

Union Street is one of the most imposing and famous thoroughfares in Britain. From Castle Street it runs for nearly a mile (1.5 km), is 70 ft (21 m) wide, and originally contained the principal shops and most of the public buildings, all of granite. Part of the street crosses the Denburn ravine (utilized for the line of the Great North of Scotland railway) by Union Bridge, a fine granite arch of 132 ft (40 m) span, with portions of the older town still fringing the gorge, 50 feet (15 m) below the level of Union Street. Union Street was built from 1801 to 1805, and named after the 1800 Act of Union with Ireland.
Amongst the notable buildings in the street are the Town and County Bank, the Music Hall, the Trinity Hall of the incorporated trades (originating between 1398 and 1527), now a shopping mall; the Palace Hotel; the former office of the Northern Assurance Company, and the National Bank of Scotland.
In Castle Street, a continuation eastwards of Union Street, is the Town House, the headquarters of the city council. One of the most splendid granite edifices in Scotland, in the Franco-Scottish Gothic style, it contains the great hall, with an open timber ceiling and oak-panelled walls; the Sheriff Court House; the Town and County Hall, with portraits of Prince Albert, the 4th Earl of Aberdeen, various Lord Provosts and other distinguished citizens. In the vestibule of the entrance corridor stands a suit of black armour, believed to have been worn by Provost Sir Robert Davidson, who fought in the Battle of Harlaw in 1411. On the south-western corner is the 210 ft (64 m) grand tower, which commands a fine view of the city and surrounding country. Adjoining the Town House is the old North of Scotland Bank building, in Greek Revival style. This building is now a pub named the Archibald Simpson, after its original architect. On the opposite side of the street is the fine building of the Union Bank, redeveloped in 2005 as the High Court. The third permanent high court to sit in Scotland.
At the upper end of Castlegate stands The Salvation Army Citadel, an effective castellated mansion, on the site of the medieval castle. In front of it is the Mercat Cross, built in 1686 by John Montgomery, a native architect. This open-arched structure, 21 ft (6 m) in diameter and 18 ft (5 m) high, comprises a large hexagonal base from the centre of which rises a shaft with a Corinthian capital, on which is the royal unicorn. The base is highly decorated, including medallions illustrating Scottish monarchs from James I to James VII. To the east of Castle Street were the military barracks, which were demolished in 1965 and replaced with two tower blocks.
Marischal College on Broad Street, opened by King Edward VII in 1906, is the second largest granite building in the world (after the Escorial, Madrid), and is one of the most splendid examples of Edwardian architecture in Britain. The architect, Alexander Marshall Mackenzie, a native of Aberdeen, adapted his material, white granite, to the design of the building with the originality of genius. This magnificent building is sadly no longer a seat of learning and is under renovation as the new home of Aberdeen city Council.

Statues

Adjacent to Union Terrace Gardens stands a colossal bronze statue of William Wallace, by W. G. Stevenson. Also nearby these same gardens are a bronze statue of Robert Burns and Charles Marochetti's seated figure of Prince Albert.
In front of Robert Gordon's College is the bronze statue, by T. S. Burnett, of general Gordon. At Queen's Cross roundabout stands the bronze statue of Queen Victoria, erected in 1893 by the royal tradesmen of the city. Near the Cross stands the granite statue of George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon.
There is a 70 ft (21 m) high obelisk of Peterhead granite, originally erected in the square of Marischal College, to the memory of Sir James McGrigor (1778-1851), the military surgeon and director-general of the Army Medical Department, who was thrice elected lord rector of the College. In the 1890s when the College was extended, the obelisk was moved to Duthie Park. There is also a statue commemorating Lord Byron in the front grounds of Aberdeen Grammar School.