St Giles' Cathedral

St Giles' Cathedral

inside view

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

history

The first written mention of a church on this site comes from the year 854. The current building was presumably built since the year 1120. After a fire in 1385, the church was rebuilt in the Gothic style; the tower was not completed until 1495.

The church is consecrated to St Giles , that is St. Aegidius , one of the fourteen helpers in need. St Giles is the main church in the city, even if it was never a cathedral in its time as a Catholic Church , as Edinburgh was part of the Bishopric of St Andrews (see List of Bishops and Archbishops of St Andrews ).

In the 16th century the Reformer John Knox preached in St Giles Church . He was buried in a cemetery south of the church, which is now overbuilt by the parking lot of the neighboring High Court. A life-size sculpture of John Knox by sculptor MacGillivray was placed near the cathedral in 1904 .

In 1633 St Giles was elevated to cathedral by Charles I , but lost the title in 1638. In the years 1661 to 1689 it was once again a cathedral of the " Anglicans ". For the Anglicans in Scotland, who formed the Scottish Episcopal Church , St Giles has been the main church of the Reformation Church of Scotland since the end of the religious conflicts .

In the 19th century and in the 1970s were carried out extensive restoration work , from 1983 to 1993 was one in four phases Multibeton - underfloor heating installed. In 1911, the Thistle Chapel in the neo-Gothic style was added to the southeast of the church . It serves as the chapel of the Order of the Thistle . The neo-Gothic choir stalls have a seat crowned with their coat of arms for each of the 16 regular knights of the order. Numerous stained glass windows date from the late 20th century, such as the large window in the west facade ( The Great West Window or The Burns Window ) by the Icelandic artist Leifur Breidfjörd from 1985.

organ

View of the organ

The organ was built in 1992 by the organ builder Rieger (Austria), with two registers from the previous organ from 1940. The instrument has 57 stops on three manuals and a pedal . The playing and stop actions are mechanical.

I positive C-a 3 Dumped 8th' Salicional 8th' Principal 4 ′ Chimney Flute 4 ′ Octave 2 ′ recorder 2 ′ Sesquialtera II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Larigot 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Mixture IV 1' Rankett I V 16 ′ Cromorne 8th' Tremulant

II Great Organ C – a 3 Bourdon 16 ′ Principal 8th' Stopped diapason 8th' Harmonic flute 8th' Octave 4 ′ Night horn 4 ′ Quint 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Super octave 2 ′ Mixture VI 2 ′ Mixture IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Cornett V 8th' Trumpet 16 ′ Trumpet 8th' Trumpet 4 ′ Tremulant

III Swell Organ C – a 3 Bourdon 16 ′ diapason 8th' souffle 8th' Flûte à cheminée 8th' Viol 8th' Voix céleste 8th' Prestant 4 ′ Flûte pointue 4 ′ Nazard 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Quarte de Nazard 2 ′ Tierce 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Sifflet 1' Plein Jeu VI-VIII 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Basson 16 ′ Trumpets 8th' Hautbois 8th' Clairon 4 ′ Voix humaine 8th' Carillon Tremulant

Pedal Organ C – f 3 Pedestal 32 ′ Principal 16 ′ Open Wood 16 ′ Sub bass 16 ′ Octave 8th' Dumped 8th' Choral bass 4 ′ Flood 4 ′ Mixture V 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Bombard 32 ′ Bombard 16 ′ Fagotto 16 ′ trombone 8th' Clairon 4 ′ Carillon

literature

• The Rev. HC Whitley: St. Giles' Cathedral , Pitkin Pictorials Ltd, London 1973, 25 p. With many photos
• Peter Sager : Scotland . M. DuMont Schauberg , Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-7701-3550-4 , p. 122-124 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Homepage: Geschichte (English), accessed on January 13, 2015.
2. ↑ royal-mile.com: St. Giles Cathedral , accessed January 13, 2015.
3. ^ John Gifford: Edinburgh. Penguin Books, London 1991, ISBN 0-14-071068-X , p. 105.
4. ↑ St Giles Church becomes Saint Giles Cathedral ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), Retrieved January 13, 2015. 
5. ↑ Stewart J. Brown: Belief and Religions. In: Trevor Griffiths, Graeme Morton (eds.): A History of Everyday Life in Scotland, 1800 to 1900. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2010, ISBN 978-0-7486-2156-9 , pp. 116-145, here: P. 122.
6. ↑ Multibeton: St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland ( Memento of the original dated February 3, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Scotland Signpost: St. Giles Cathedral , accessed January 13, 2015.
8. ↑ Home Leifur Breidfjord , accessed January 13, 2015.
9. ↑ More information on the organ ( Memento of the original from October 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. and Disposition 

Web links

Commons : St Giles' Cathedral  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website (English)

Coordinates: 55 ° 56'58 "  N , 3 ° 11'27"  W.