St Machar's Cathedral description and photos - Great Britain: Aberdeen (Topic)

St Machar's Cathedral description and photos - United Kingdom: Aberdeen. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is St Machar's Cathedral.

Photo and description

St. Mahar's Cathedral is an ancient cathedral located in the city of Aberdeen in Scotland. Formally it is a "high church", and not a cathedral since the Scottish Reformation, since it has no episcopal see.

Saint Mahar was a companion of Saint Columba on the way to the island of Jonah. According to legend, Maharu was ordered from above to found a church in the place where the river bends, like the top of a bishop's staff. This is how the Don River flows just below the place where the cathedral now stands. Saint Mahar founded a church in Old Aberdeen around 580, and in 113, when King David I moved the episcopal see from Mortlach to Aberdeen, construction of a Norman cathedral began on the site of the church. Almost nothing has survived from this cathedral. At the end of the 13th century, it was decided to rebuild and expand the church, but these plans were thwarted by the Scottish Wars of Independence. Only the columns of red sandstone were built, and the remains of these columns can be seen in the eastern part of the building. Column capitals represent some of the finest stone carvings of the time.

At the beginning of the XIV century, the Norman cathedral was destroyed, and in its place the construction of a new one began, with granite columns and towers in the western part. After the completion of the nave and western facade, construction began on the central tower, which collapsed in 1688 in a violent storm. Of particular interest is the nave ceiling, made in the first half of the 16th century. The carved wood panels depict the coats of arms of all the kings of Europe, as well as the Scottish earls and bishops.

The cathedral is a fine example of a fortified church, with two identical towers, which are modeled on the medieval fortresses, tower houses. The cathedral contains the graves of many famous people.

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Topic: St Machar's Cathedral description and photos - Great Britain: Aberdeen.