St Giles’ Cathedral is Edinburgh’s most important church, tells many stories and enchants with its beauty. Why it’s worth a visit.
When the Visigoth king Wamba let the arrow fly from the string of his bow, he wanted to kill a hind. But he accidentally hit a man who had stood in front of the animal to protect it. This man was Aegidius and, according to legend, the hind had previously suckled him with her milk. So what does all this have to do with Edinburgh and Scotland?
Aegidius, his deed and his later work in the 8th century AD made him one of the 14 emergency saints who were often invoked for help in the Middle Ages. In English, his name is St Giles. The cathedral in the heart of Scotland’s capital is dedicated to him.
St Giles’ Cathedral, like so many of Edinburgh’s sights, is located on the Royal Mile about halfway between Edinburgh Castle and Hollyrood Palace. As visitors approach it from the front, the first thing they notice is the church tower in the shape of a crown. Today it is a landmark of the Edinburgh skyline. The route then continues across Parliament Square past the statue of the politician Walter Montagu Douglas Scott.
Perhaps more important than what is ON Parliament Square is what lies BELOW it. For the cemetery belonging to the cathedral was located where parts of the square extend and where the large High Court building stands today. The Scottish Parliament met in the High Court before the unification of Scotland and England.
Visitors can enter the church through a richly decorated gate with many statuettes.
The nave of the church opens up to the view, with the sanctuary and the communion table in the centre. Behind this is the choir of the cathedral, which is crowned by a large stained glass window.
Further aisles run to the left and right of the nave, separated by columns. To the right of the entrance is a side aisle called “Moray Aisle”.
Various memorial plaques hang on the wall. The most important is certainly Robert Louis Stevenson’s relief. However, many visitors tend to get stuck on this writing and smile:
Simpson by no means invented chloroform, but it was thanks to the Scottish obstetrician that the anaesthetic was soon used in many operating theatres and theatres.
If you walk further back along the corridor, you will pass the Holy Blood Aisle. The small chapel commemorates Mary Stuart’s half-brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray. He was murdered in 1570 – the memorial service was held by the famous reformer John Knox. This service is immortalised in the lower part of the stained glass window.
A little further down this side aisle, past the Austrian organ, visitors enter a part of the church steeped in history. The 16 banners of the ladies and knights of the Order of the Thistle hang in the Preston Aisle. More importantly, the National Covenant of Scotland hangs on a partition wall, protected under glass. It laid the foundation stone for today’s Reformed Church of Scotland. But it was also a starting point for the civil war in the mid-17th century.
One of the main protagonists of this war lies in the adjoining Chapman Aisle: the Marquess of Montrose. He supported King Charles I and his successor Charles II against the Scottish Covenanters. After some initial victories, he had to flee. He was later extradited and executed. Only a short time later, Charles II ascended the throne and rehabilitated Montrose. His remains were buried with a memorial service in Chapman Aisle. The grave is adorned with a life-size marble statue of the Marquess.
A little further into St Giles’ Cathedral, through the small door on the right, you reach the Thistle Chapel. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the church, even though it was only completed in 1911.
The ladies and knights of the Order of the Thistle still meet here today to pray. “The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle” is still Scotland’s most important order and the thistle is one of its most important landmarks.
Almost the entire wall of the chapel is decorated with elaborately carved panelling and coats of arms. At the very front is the lectern with the British coat of arms (all information on the Scottish coat of arms and flag here).
The end of the cathedral is reached with the Thistle Chapel. Return along the north aisle. There are also some side chapels here, such as St Eloise’s Aisle. It commemorates Archibald Campbell, Marquess of Argyll. Campbell was an ardent Covenanter and – ironically – the direct opponent of the Marquess of Montrose opposite.
And finally, the visitor also encounters one of the most important people for the Scottish church: John Knox. The reformer stands as a bronze statue near the exit of the cathedral.
Before visitors leave St Giles’ Cathedral again, the large stained glass window above the entrance presents itself in all its splendour. It commemorates the poet Robert Burns.
St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh is full of Scottish history and artistic beauty. It’s worth swapping the shops and the hustle and bustle of the Royal Mile for a quiet stroll around this church.
Knowledge: History of St Giles’ Cathedral
King Alexander of Scotland founded the first church on this site in 1124, but the fact that nothing remains of it today is due to a fire in 1385 that devastated the old building. In the 14th to 16th centuries, St Giles was then rebuilt in the Gothic style. It also grew as more and more small chapels, known as “aisles”, were added.
in 1559, St Giles was given a new vicar. His name was John Knox. He went down in history as the reformer of the Scottish church. The church building therefore played a major role in the fact that today the reformed “Church of Scotland” dominates and since then it is no longer Catholic but Presbyterian.
in 1635, Charles I elevated St Giles to the status of an Episcopal church – it has only been a cathedral and the “High Kirk of Edinburgh”, the most important place where the followers of the Church of Scotland gather, since this time.
Surprisingly, however, St Giles was no longer just a church building at this time. In fact, there were four for the four different congregations. Although they were all in the cathedral, they were actually separated from each other by stone walls. For example, one of them was called “Tolbooth Kirk”, like the neighbourhood further down the Royal Mile.
In the 19th century, under the direction of William Chambers, Edinburgh began to restore the cathedral and abolish the division.
From the end of the 19th century, the church building was then given wonderful stained glass windows, which is not a matter of course as the Presbyterians actually reject this in their churches. But the scenes on the windows are among the beauties of St Giles’ today. If you would like to find out more about the windows, you can find a collection with an English explanation here.
Tip: Angel with bagpipes
Note from some MyHighlands.co.uk readers: There are probably also small reliefs and statuettes depicting angels in the building. The special thing about them: They play the bagpipes. Unfortunately, I didn’t realise this when I visited, so I don’t have any pictures. To all future visitors: Have fun looking.
Personal note: The Thistle Chapel alone is worth a visit
The finely crafted carvings in the Thistle Chapel are in the Gothic Revival and Art Nouveau styles. I really like Art Nouveau, which is why I was particularly taken with the chapel at the end of St Giles’ Cathedral.
There was an old man in the chapel who answers visitors’ questions. I quickly got talking to him about coats of arms – after all, there are plenty of them here. There are even several on the ceiling.
I always enjoy conversations and shop talk like this and you learn a lot of things that aren’t on the information boards and leaflets.
How to get there:
St Giles’ Cathedral is in the middle of the Royal Mile. Most visitors therefore reach it on foot. You can find out more about public transport and how to get to Edinburgh here.