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The Royal Mile is the popular name for the succession of streets which form the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of Edinburgh. As the name suggests, it stretches for a mile between the two foci of royal history in Scotland, from Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Mound down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Along the way, the actual name of the street changes from "Castle Hill" to "Lawnmarket" to "High Street" to "Cannongate". The Royal Mile is Edinburgh's busiest tourist street, rivalled only by Princes Street in the New Town.
About a third of the way down the mile from the castle toward the palace is Parliament Square, named for the old Parliament House, which housed Scotland's assembly between the 1630s and 1707 (when it was dissolved by the Act of Union); today it is used for law courts. St Giles Cathedral, the High Kirk of Edinburgh, also stands in the square, as well as the Mercat Cross from which royal proclamations are read. Behind St Giles is the Heart of Midlothian, a heart-shaped mosaic built into the pavement. Tolbooth prisoners used to spit as they entered the prison, and this tradition is maintained by some people, who spit on the Heart for good luck as they walk past.
A little further down the Royal Mile, near its midpoint, is an intersection from which a street, called North Bridge, leads off to the New Town; another, South Bridge, leads back into the heart of the Old Town. Still further along are the sites of the old Tolbooth prison and the new Scottish Parliament building.
During the annual Edinburgh Festival, the street becomes the city's central focus, and is crowded with tourists, entertainers and buskers.