St Giles' Cathedral
— a crown of stone over Edinburgh.
Not only on a wall.
“The High Kirk of Edinburgh, on the Royal Mile between the Castle and Holyrood. A church has stood on the site since 1124. The present building is mostly 14th and 15th century, capped by the open stone crown of its tower, completed around 1495. John Knox preached here through the years of the Scottish Reformation and is buried in what is now the car park behind.
St Giles' Cathedral, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
St Giles' Cathedral, formally the High Kirk of Edinburgh, stands on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh's Old Town, about halfway between Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. A parish church has occupied the site since 1124, founded under David I of Scotland. The present building dates mostly from the 14th and 15th centuries and is sometimes called the mother church of Presbyterianism. The Church of Scotland has no bishops, so the title cathedral is historical rather than ecclesiastical; the kirk remains a working parish of the city, with a regular Sunday congregation.
The open stone crown of the tower, finished around 1495, is one of only a handful of crown steeples in Scotland and the defining silhouette of the Edinburgh skyline. Inside, the Thistle Chapel was designed by Sir Robert Lorimer and dedicated in 1911 for the knights of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, with stalls and heraldic carving by the brothers Clow. John Knox served as minister of the kirk from 1559 until his death in 1572; a bronze statue of him stands in the north aisle.
The cathedral keeps the Church of Scotland calendar and is open to visitors most days, with no admission charge though a donation of around five pounds is suggested. The most attended services are the Kirking of the Parliament, when members of the Scottish Parliament process from Holyrood for a service of thanksgiving, and the St Andrew's Day service on or near 30 November. Music includes a choir founded in its present form in 1879 and regular organ recitals on the 1992 Rieger instrument in the south transept.