Illustrated Guide to St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, and the Chapel of the Thistle (Classic Reprint) download PDF, EPUB, Kindle

Illustrated Guide to St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, and the Chapel of the Thistle (Classic Reprint) by William Meikle

Excerpt from Illustrated Guide to St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, and the Chapel of the Thistle The most picturesque and striking building in the Old Town of Edinburgh is the historic Cathedral of St Giles. No ecclesiastical edifice in the kingdom has passed through so many vicissitudes and still survives in dignity and grandeur. As early as the ninth century, it is believed that there was a church in Edinburgh dedicated to St Giles, belonging to the Monastery of Lindisfarne, Holy Island. St Giles, or Sanctus Egidius, in whose honour the church was erected, was a renowned mediaeval saint of whom there are numerous legends. He is said to have been a native of Athens in Greece and of royal lineage. Artists have usually painted him in the garb of a monk, with a hind pierced by an arrow, either at his feet or in his arms. He died at the Abbey of Aries in Provence about 721. In less than fifty years after his death he was canonised, and throughout Europe the chapels dedicated to St Giles were in number next those of the Virgin Mary. In England alone there were 146 churches erected in his honour. The best known in Scotland is that of Edinburgh. On the site of this early church, Alexander I. of Scotland erected a massive Norman structure about 1120. The larger portion of this Church was destroyed by Richard II. of England in 1385;rebuilding was commenced two years later and the Church greatly enlarged. During the fifteenth century extensive additions were made, and the picturesque Lantern Tower was probably completed in 149 f. This is substantially the St Giles of the present day. At the Reformation the interior was defaced and robbed of its artistic adornments, after which it was divided into four separate Churches. In 1829-33 the Church suffered from an unskilful restoration: several beautiful and historic chapels were entirely destroyed, and the exterior, with the exception of the Tower, cased in a bald and unattractive style. In this condition it remained until 1872-83 when, at the instance and mainly at the cost of Dr William Chambers, the well-known publisher, the Church was restored to much of its former beauty and grandeur. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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