Glasgow Cathedral

Glasgow Cathedral is the only medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland to come through the Reformation with its roof and structure intact, largely because the city's trade guilds undertook to protect it. It was built between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries over the tomb of Kentigern, known as Mungo, the sixth-century founder of the city, and because the ground falls away sharply to the east the builders made a lower church beneath the choir rather than levelling the site, so there are effectively two churches one above the other; the lower church holds the tomb and a forest of piers and vaults. The Blacader Aisle has a painted ceiling of carved bosses. Behind the cathedral rises the Necropolis, a Victorian cemetery of about fifty thousand burials on a hill of ornate monuments.

The main sights

• The lower church - a vaulted crypt-level church around Mungo's tomb.
• The complete medieval fabric - a roof and structure that survived the Reformation.
• The Blacader Aisle - a chamber with a carved and painted ceiling.
• The Necropolis - a Victorian hill cemetery of monuments behind the cathedral.

When to go

Year-round; entry is free and the cathedral opens daily around services, with shorter winter hours. The Necropolis is best in clear weather for the view back over the cathedral.

What to expect

The interior is austere, with post-Reformation whitewash rather than colour and imagery. The lower church is dim. The surrounding area is dominated by a large hospital and a busy road. Necropolis paths are steep and uneven.

Nearby

The Necropolis is directly behind; Provand's Lordship, Glasgow's oldest house, is opposite.

Key facts