Churches and cathedrals
the Greyfriars Bobby statue outside the churchyard
inside Rosslyn Chapel
St Giles' Cathedral
St Mary's Cathedral © Kenny Lam
Explore the churches and cathedrals of Edinburgh and the Lothians and you’ll discover beautiful buildings with their Gothic architecture and stunning stained glass windows - some are so fascinating, they’ve even been featured in movies!
Rosslyn Chapel
Founded in 1446, the mysterious, richly decorated late-Gothic Rosslyn Chapel featured heavily in Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code.
It’s hardly surprising that the best-selling author was intrigued by Rosslyn Chapel. The outside bristles with pinnacles, gargoyles, flying buttresses and canopies whilst the inside foliage carving is particularly eye-catching.
These provide fairly convincing evidence that the founder's grandfather, the daring sea adventurer Prince Henry of Orkney, did, as legend has it, set foot in the New World a century before Columbus. The rich and subtle figurative sculptures have given Rosslyn the nickname of 'a Bible in stone', though they're more symbolic than literal, with portrayals of the Dance of Death, the Seven Acts of Mercy and the Seven Deadly Sins.
Dan Brown is not the only literary figure to be inspired by Rosslyn. The great Scots writer Sir Walter Scott and renowned poet William Wordsworth, whose sister Dorothy described it as ‘exquisitely beautiful’ have all featured it in their works.
A number of books have been published in recent years about Rosslyn Chapel, drawing on everything from the Freemasons and the Turin Shroud to the True Gospels and regular sightings of UFOs over Midlothian.
St Giles’ Cathedral
The historic City Church of Edinburgh, St Giles’ Cathedral is a grand building with a famed crown spire, which stands on the Royal Mile.
St Giles’ Cathedral was founded in the 1120s during a time when the Scottish Royal Family were making strong efforts to spread Catholic Christian worship throughout the Scottish lowlands. Few traces of the original building survive but what stands today is a Gothic style building from the 15th century with many alterations.
St Mary’s Cathedral
St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, is the largest ecclesiastical building in Scotland and boasts three spires which can be seen dominating the skyline from all around.
Located on Palmerston Place in the West End, St Mary’s Cathedral was consecrated in 1879 and was built by the great Victorian Gothic architect Sir Gilbert Scott, alongside work by his son John and Sir Robert Lorimer.
See the Paolozzi Window designed by the late Sir Eduardo Paolozzi on the theme of Ascension, Alfred Borthwick’s powerful painting, The Presence, which was painted in St Mary’s in 1910 and hangs in the north aisle, and one of the finest organs in Scotland designed by ‘Father’ Willis in 1879.
Greyfriars Tolbooth and Highland Kirk
Between April and October the visitor centre at Greyfriars Tolbooth is open to all visitors so you can wander around this building and discover the unique historical heritage and the real story of Greyfriars Bobby. In the visitor centre you can find out about how this was the first church built in Edinburgh after the Reformation, and how it now displays an American flag which once hung in the White House.
Find out about the story of the little dog, Greyfriars Bobby, who waited by his master’s grave for years and whose statue now sits proudly opposite the gates of the church.
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Edinburgh and the Lothians sits on the eastern side of Scotland's central belt, in the heart of the country.
