The Glasgow Cathedral

On my previous post (My First Time in the U.K.), I mentioned that visiting London was a surprise, however the city of Glasgow was truly a pleasant surprise. Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and the third largest city in the United Kingdom. It’s known as one of the roughest cities in the United Kingdom, but fortunately I was able to see the good side and I found it to be a very friendly city full of modern and classic architecture. In the midst of this city is a glorious structure, the Glasgow Cathedral. Below are some shots that I took a of this medieval marvel. THE PATRON SAINT OF GLASGOW

Saint Mungo is the patron saint of the city of Glasgow and was buried in the cathedral in 612 C.E. His tomb is in the Lower Church of the Cathedral, however I failed to take a shot of the tomb.

The Glasgow Cathedral is also known as St Mungo’s Cathedral or St Kentigern’s Cathedral . The origin’s of the church date back to 550 C.E., but the current building was built between the 12th and 13th centuries and it has been an active place of worship ever since. It is the only cathedral on the Scottish mainland to have survived the 1560 Reformation.

THE QUIRE

This is a shot of the quire room looking east. At the end you can see the altar in the chancel as well as the very high ceiling of the quire room.

As I walked into the cathedral I could really sense the age of the building which had a dark, gothic vibe to it. Once inside the cathedral, I felt dwarfed by the extremely high ceilings and the shadows made it feel like everything was going to cave in. Kinda weird!

Aside from the dark, gothic vibe that I got, I was really impressed by the medieval architecture of the cathedral. As you can see it is beautiful inside. By the way, the lady with the red backpack in this shot kept getting in the way.

There are many fine, stained windows throughout the cathedral. Most of them are very colorful and depict scenes from the bible and messages including the fourteen Trades of Glasgow.

This is a shot of The Great East Window in the quire of the cathedral. These windows are by Francis Spear and were install in 1951. They show the four evangelists: St. Matthews, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John.

THE SPIRE AND INTERIOR

This final set of photos features The Spire, The Nave, The Creation Window, a shot of the altar and a shot of some stained windows along with an old bible. The spire of the cathedral rises to 67m (220 feet) above floor level. The Nave is facing west and the ceiling is 32m (105 feet) high. At the end of the Nave you can see the Great West Window called “The Creation” and a modern clock above it. The Creation Window is by Francis Spear and was installed in 1958.

Regardless of your reason to visit the Glasgow Cathedral, whether it’s religious reasons or simply because you have an appreciation for architecture this is a must see. I definitely recommend it.

The photos aren’t perfect, but I hope you like them!