At first glance, the Camera Obscura and World of Illusions may seem like any other tourist attraction with its flashy, family-friendly advertising. In fact, it’s one of the oldest attractions in the United Kingdom built with the express purpose of drawing visitors. The site was born in 1851 as Maria Theresa Short’s Observatory and Museum of Science and Art, which it remained for forty years, with the camera obscura at the very top. When urbanist Patrick Geddes bought the space in 1892, he transformed it into a museum of urban planning. After an ill-fated attempt by Edinburgh University to turn the museum into an urban planning center, the building was purchased by its current owners, who have run the attraction since 1977.
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