St. Giles

I am currently working on a new design for publication, and I’m excited to share it soon. In the meantime, though, I am racing around trying to get ready for the start of the academic year (I work full time while also teaching Italian literature courses), so I am not quite ready for a large blog post. I’m going to fill in with a few quick posts sharing the gorgeous scenery from our trip to the UK back in July. I hope you’ll enjoy!

In this first post, I’ll share photos of St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh. I cannot visit a city (or even a town!) in Europe without going bonkers over the local place of worship. The beauty and artistry never fails to impress. St. Giles, founded in 1124 as a Roman Catholic church and converted to the seat of Scottish Presbyterianism in the sixteenth century, is a gorgeous space with a unique history and eclectic mix of medieval and modern art and architecture. I was in love. Whether any of my family shared my sentiment is another story. But I enjoyed the visit, and couldn’t help but purchase the photographer’s pass!

Above is a view of the lovely interior, with buff colored stone work, typical Gothic arches and lovely stained glass from the turn of the century.

Within the Cathedral is the stunning Thistle Chapel, a small but ornate addition from 1911. The ceiling is capped with heraldic medallions and carved stone rosettes. I can sort of imagine this translated into a yoke for a sweater!

The carved wood above the knights’ stalls in the Thistle Chapel are absolutely exquisite. I could spend a whole day marveling over the artistry involved in this carving.

Even the exterior of the cathedral offers fun details! Just imagine these ornate Celtic knots in knitted form! And who doesn’t love a griffon?

A piece of advice I’d give to any traveller is to slow down and enjoy all the intricate details. It’s so easy to get into a mindset of slogging through and consuming as much as possible while missing all the beautiful surprises hiding in plain sight. Choose just a few sites, if need be, and study them in detail. Like a medieval manuscript waiting to be deciphered. Like a knitting pattern in all its detail!