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Few of the present buildings pre-date the Lang Siege of the 16th century, when the medieval fortifications were largely destroyed by artillery bombardment. The notable exception is St Margaret's Chapel, the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh, which dates from the early 12th century. Among other significant buildings of the castle are the Royal Palace, and the early-16th-century Great Hall. The castle also houses the Scottish National War Memorial, and the National War Museum of Scotland.

Although formally owned by the Ministry of Defence, most of the castle is now in the care of Historic Scotland, and it is Scotland's most-visited paid tourist attraction. The garrison left in the 1920s, but there is still a military presence at the castle, largely ceremonial and administrative, and including a number of regimental museums. It is the backdrop to the annual Edinburgh Military Tattoo and has become a recognisable symbol of Edinburgh and of Scotland.

Documentary reference to occupation of the Castle Rock can be found as early as the mid-2nd century AD. Ptolemy (c. 83 – c. 168) refers to a settlement of the Votadini known to the Romans as "Alauna", meaning "rock place", which may be the earliest known name for the Castle Rock. The Orygynale Cronykil of Andrew of Wyntoun (c. 1350 – c. 1423), an early chronicler of Scottish history, alludes to "Ebrawce" (Ebraucus), a legendary King of the Britons, who "byggyd [built] Edynburgh". According to the earlier chronicler, Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1100 – c. 1155), Ebraucus had fifty children by his twenty wives, and was the founder of "Kaerebrauc" (York), "Alclud" (Dumbarton), and the "Maidens' Castle". John Stow (c. 1525 – 1605), credited Ebraucus with building "the Castell of Maidens called Edenbrough" in 989 BC.

The archaeological evidence becomes more compelling in the Iron Age. Traditionally, it had been supposed that the tribes which inhabited this part of central Scotland had made little or no use of the Castle Rock. Excavations at nearby Traprain Law, Dunsapie Hill, Duddingston and Inveresk had revealed relatively large settlements and it was supposed that these sites had, for some reason, been chosen in preference to the Castle Rock. However, the excavations of the 1980s suggested that there was probably an enclosed hill fort on the rock, although only the fringes of the site were excavated. House fragments revealed were similar to Votadini houses previously found in Northumbria.