A Glimpse Of Stirling
Stirling - Stirling is a Scottish city which lies in a very strategic place geographically. It is in the heart of Scotland and therefore has the heart of its history. It has a very old fortress and was the area of the local council. It therefore had a great deal of political sway over the course of its history in Scotland.
Its geographical importance has direct influence over its political and economical status over the years. It lies directly between the high- and low-lands, which means that any attacking force going from one area to another would have to cross through Stirling. Naturally, many opposite forces were there waiting. The area is on a hill, so defense is easy, and it lies on a river, so shipping and water travel are easy.
For these reasons, it was a huge battle site. Most famously it was one of the battles in the war of Scottish independence from England in 1314. It was infamously depicted in the movie "Braveheart." Though this movie was not historically accurate, the facts of the battle in the movie were more or less what scholars view to have happened.
The Wallace Monument is there, which is a huge hulking building. The other big historical building site is the the Church of the Holy Rude, which is the only surviving church in all of Great Britain besides Westminster Abbey to have had a monarch coronated there. This town has been attacked and switched hands numerous times. Rebels and rulers alike have left plenty of evidence of their attempted and successful captures.
This makes for good trade with the tourism crowd, especially with scholars. Stirling has it share of ghosts, too, considering all of the battles that happened. Ghost tours are an excellent source of revenue. For the modern tourist, Stirling has its own rugby and football teams to root for. The military has been known to use the area as a place of strategic learning.
At its roots, though, it is still a market town which generates most of the local economy through trade. This is only natural when one considers its placement near water, with its own train station, on an important road between two countries and two types of land. The railroad did cut down on water travel, but it never fully stopped.
The Blair Drummond Safari Park is the only African park in all of Scotland, which also draws big crowds. Stirling has its own university, railroad station, and police department. Though not a huge town in population, it is very big in popularity.
