The Pleasance is a street just outside the
Old Town of
Edinburgh,
Scotland, a remnant of the
town walls flanking the west side of the street between
Drummond Street and the
Cowgate. Historically, the street was one of the main routes into Edinburgh from the south, meeting St Mary's Wynd (now St Mary's Street) at St Mary's Wynd Port, one of the gateways of the town walls. The name derives from the
Scots plesance, meaning a park or garden. It first appears in 1507 as the name of a nearby house and was later transferred to the street and then the suburb which was part of the
regality of
the Canongate. The derivation of the name from a nunnery of St Mary of Placentia, often mentioned in histories of Edinburgh, is an invention by
William Maitland in his 1753
History of Edinburgh. The street is largely residential, although the
University of Edinburgh owns property in the area.