St Giles' Cathedral

The former Cathedral of St Giles ' Cathedral, also High Kirk of Edinburgh, is the main church of the Church of Scotland and one of the main sights of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. It is located on the famous Royal Mile as the main axis of the old city about 500 meters east of Edinburgh Castle.

History

The earliest record of a church on this site dates back to the year 854, the currently existing building began around the year 1120. After a fire in 1385 the church was rebuilt in the Gothic style; The tower was completed in 1495.

The church is dedicated to St Giles, which is the holy Giles, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. St Giles is the main church of the city, even though it was never as Cathedral Catholic Church in their time, because Edinburgh belonged to the diocese of St Andrews, see List of bishops and archbishops of St Andrews.

In the 16th century reformer John Knox preached in the church of St Giles. He was buried in a cemetery south of the church. Near the Cathedral, a sculpture of John Knox was set up in 1904, which was created by the sculptor MacGillivray.

In 1633, St Giles of Charles I was raised to cathedral, which title they lost in 1638. In the years 1661 to 1689, she was again in a cathedral of the " Anglican ". ( The Anglicans in Scotland form in the presence of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Church is described here since the end of the religious conflicts of the main church of the Reformed Church of Scotland. )

In the 19th century and in the 1970s made ​​extensive restorations. In 1911, the Thistle Chapel grown in the southeast of the church in the Gothic Revival style. It serves as a religious chapel of the Order of the Thistle, the neo-Gothic choir stalls with his coat of arms has a winning seat for each of the 16 regular knight of the Order. From the late 20th century, numerous glass windows were like the big window in the west facade ( The Great West Window or The Burns Window ) by the Icelandic artist Leif Breidfjord from the year 1985.

Equipment

The organ was built in 1992 by the organ building firm Rieger ( Austria ), with two registers of the previous organ was acquired in 1940. The instrument has 57 registers on three manuals and pedal. The play and Registertrakturen are mechanical.