{"id":788476,"date":"2026-02-25T17:33:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T17:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/788476\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T17:33:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T17:33:27","slug":"edinburgh-venue-offers-free-entry-to-anyone-named-maria-on-international-womens-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/788476\/","title":{"rendered":"Edinburgh venue offers free entry to anyone named Maria on International Women\u2019s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>An<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heraldscotland.com\/local-news\/edinburgh-news\/?ref=ed_direct\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Edinburgh;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><strong>Edinburgh<\/strong><\/a> <strong>tourist attraction is celebrating International Women\u2019s Day with an inventive tribute to its founder.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Camera Obscura &amp; World of Illusions is offering free entry to anyone named Maria on Sunday, March 8, in honour of Maria Theresa Short, the Scottish entrepreneur who established the attraction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Ms Short first opened an observatory on Calton Hill in 1835 before relocating to Castlehill two decades later, where she re-established the attraction as a public observatory and museum of scientific curiosities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This eventually became the Camera Obscura and World of Illusions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Booking online in advance using the code Maria100 is also available .The offer is valid on adult tickets only, one ticket per transaction. (Image: Camera Obscura)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Andrew Johnson, general manager at Camera Obscura, said: &#8220;Maria Theresa Short was a remarkable woman who didn\u2019t shy away from a challenge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;At a time when it wasn\u2019t easy for women to run businesses, Maria created something bold and completely unique to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heraldscotland.com\/local-news\/edinburgh-news\/?ref=au\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Edinburgh;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Edinburgh<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;International Women\u2019s Day feels like the perfect time to celebrate her everlasting legacy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We can\u2019t think of a more fitting tribute than welcoming fellow Marias to Camera Obscura to enjoy the magic Maria Short first created almost two centuries ago.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Visitors named Maria can claim free admission by presenting photographic identification at the admissions desk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>Read more<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Camera Obscura &amp; World of Illusions was awarded a TripAdvisor Travellers\u2019 Choice Award for 2025 and currently holds a five-star ASVA Quality Grading.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In 2025, the attraction also received the Inclusion Award at the Central and East Scotland regional final of the Scottish Thistle Awards, a recognition of its commitment to accessibility and inclusive tourism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Its inclusion initiatives include free entry for carers, sensory backpacks, a quiet space, and a virtual tour, supported by a detailed accessibility guide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Edinburgh tourist attraction is celebrating International Women\u2019s Day with an inventive tribute to its founder. The Camera&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":788477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,229458,1102,229461,4884,216252,64821,229462,229459,229463,712,16,15,229460],"class_list":["post-788476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edinburgh","tag-britain","tag-camera-obscura","tag-edinburgh","tag-free-entry","tag-great-britain","tag-international-womens-day","tag-maria","tag-maria-short","tag-maria-theresa-short","tag-public-observatory","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-world-of-illusions"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}