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All 345 Edinburgh Attractions »

St. Giles Cathedral

Royal Mile, Edinburgh EH1 1RE, Scotland
0131 225 9442
As featured in 3 days in Edinburgh
Ranked #19 of 163 attractions in Edinburgh
4.5 of 5 stars 299 Reviews
Type: Religious Sites, Landmarks/ Points of Interest
Fee: No
Description: This is the main church of The Church of Scotland.
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299 reviews from our community

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Date Rating
stockton-on-Tees, uk
Senior Reviewer
7 reviews 7 reviews
Reviews in 5 cities Reviews in 5 cities
9 helpful votes 9 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 27 May 2012 NEW

I was surprised by the stained glass here, hadn't realised there was so much. Or that the church had such an interesting history.There is a massive new organ which unfortunately obscures one of the modern stained glass windows. There is also a Burne Jones windowe and interesting memorials to medical pioneers, including a woman surgeon who died in the first... More

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See 2 more reviews by cheerfulchris for Edinburgh
New York City, New York
Contributor
14 reviews 14 reviews
Reviews in 3 cities Reviews in 3 cities
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 25 May 2012 NEW

This cathedral had wonderful stained glass and inner chapels. Worth the visit. I even paid the 2 ounds to take pictures. More

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See 8 more reviews by Patti_ESQ for Edinburgh
Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey
Top Contributor
52 reviews 52 reviews
Reviews in 20 cities Reviews in 20 cities
9 helpful votes 9 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 25 May 2012 NEW

This is a beautiful cathedral. I was upset that I couldn't take pictures but it was a nice reprieve from the heat, as it was unseasonably warm during our visit to Edinburgh. It's worth a stop. More

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See 19 more reviews by AdrienneGlobeTrotter for Edinburgh
Campbell
Senior Contributor
25 reviews 25 reviews
Reviews in 17 cities Reviews in 17 cities
9 helpful votes 9 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 23 May 2012 NEW

This cathedral is absolutely worth a walk-through. There is so much more to see inside than expected, including a nice gift shop. More

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See 2 more reviews by southbaytravelers for Edinburgh
Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
Reviewer
3 reviews 3 reviews
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 23 May 2012 NEW

Did not visit the cathedral as we planned to go on a tour of the underground vaults - this is a must - the tours start at the Mercat Cross (just outside the cathedral), my friend and i are going back to go on other Mercat Tours - you can book online More

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See 2 more reviews by barry_bellis for Edinburgh
Salt Lake City, Utah
Senior Contributor
48 reviews 48 reviews
Reviews in 21 cities Reviews in 21 cities
33 helpful votes 33 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 21 May 2012

Lovely Gothic building where the Proestant reformer John Knox preached. the stunningly beautiful stain glass windows are by the great 19th century artists, William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. Other windows are 20th century. A side chapel is Edwardian neogothic. I suspect that John Knox smashed the original windows, but no explanation for the replacements was given. More

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See 3 more reviews by Artaficionado for Edinburgh
London, United Kingdom
Contributor
15 reviews 15 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
5 helpful votes 5 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 21 May 2012

A lovely cathedral halfway up the Royal Mile, Stunning stain glass windows. Entry is free but there's a small charge if you want to take photographs More

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See 4 more reviews by 1963jm for Edinburgh
Newcastle, United Kingdom
Top Contributor
80 reviews 80 reviews
Reviews in 46 cities Reviews in 46 cities
103 helpful votes 103 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 20 May 2012

I recently attended the 8.00 a.m. service on a Sunday in a side chapel. The building is even more stunning on the inside and as it was a sunny morning when I attended we had incredible colour with the sun shining straight through the east facing stained glass windows. More

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See 7 more reviews by The Fat Punter for Edinburgh
Hawaii
Senior Reviewer
8 reviews 8 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 18 May 2012

Just a fine example of Scottish religious architecture. More

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See 6 more reviews by UKOzzie for Edinburgh
Liverpool, United Kingdom
Senior Contributor
21 reviews 21 reviews
Reviews in 3 cities Reviews in 3 cities
2 helpful votes 2 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 17 May 2012

A beutiful cathedral with lovely architecture, stained glass windows. There was a glorious thistle chamber with some wonderful carvings and detail. I was also fortunate enough to visit were they had musicians from the Yorkshire Philomonic playing fantastic music after the midday service and was very moved by the choir singing the Halleujah chorus. Brilliant! They did not charge to... More

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See 9 more reviews by onetravel38 for Edinburgh

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