The quarry that gave Aberdeen its name of the "Granite City" is being put on the open market for the first time in 150 years.

Rubislaw Quarry, in the heart of the west end of the city is the biggest man-made hole in Europe.

The quarry was closed in 1971 and is now fenced in and mostly hidden by trees. But its legacy lives on in the granite visible in many of Aberdeen's buildings as well as in landmarks around the world such as Waterloo Bridge in London, the terraces of the Houses of Parliament, the New York Opera House, Titanic Memorial in Liverpool and the Forth Rail Bridge.

It was opened in 1740 at the Hill of Rubislaw and sold by the Aberdeen council to a businessman in 1778 as it was not believed to be a source of good building material.

However, over the course of the next two centuries, it is estimated that around six million tones of granite was excavated from the quarry and achieved acclaim as a quality building material the world over.

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The 142metre (466ft) deep and 120metre (394ft) wide oval shaped quarry covers approximately five acres – the size of 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools. It has filled with water over the last 50 years. The overall site for sale from today is 7.3acres.

Chartered surveyors AB Robb Ltd have been instructed to market the property on behalf of owner Bixen Ltd.

AB Robb Managing Director Alex Robb said: "This is definitely one of the most unusual sites we have been instructed to sell. It is well known throughout the city but very few people by comparison will have seen it.

"It offers up intriguing possibilities for any buyer whether in the leisure, tourism or residential business areas. Ideas mentioned so far have included draining it to create some kind of leisure destination in the quarry area, possibly a climbing facility, or even keeping it filled with water and using it for water sports such as recreational diving.’"

Notable architects John Smith and Archibald Simpson constructed some of Aberdeen’s best-known buildings from Rubislaw Quarry granite in the early 19th century. Internationally, the granite was used in the Sebastopol docks and a temple in Japan.

According to the Gazetteer for Scotland, Minerologist Matthew Forster Heddle (1828-97) noted the quarry as a locality for fine specimens of the minerals tourmaline and beryl, the latter exceeding one foot in length.

For sale signs are due to go up at the quarry today inviting offers.

(GK/BMcC)