Description of the attraction
St. Mahar's Cathedral is an ancient cathedral located in the city of Aberdeen in Scotland. Formally, it is a "high church", and not a cathedral since the Scottish Reformation, tk. it has no episcopal see.
Saint Mahar was a companion of Saint Columba on the way to the island of Jonah. According to legend, Maharu was ordered from above to found a church in the place where the river bends, like the top of a bishop's staff. This is how the Don River flows just below the place where the cathedral now stands. Saint Mahar founded a church in Old Aberdeen around 580, and in 113, when King David I moved the episcopal see from Mortlach to Aberdeen, construction of a Norman cathedral began on the site of the church. Almost nothing has survived from this cathedral. At the end of the 13th century, it was decided to rebuild and expand the church, but these plans were thwarted by the Scottish Wars of Independence. They managed to build only columns of red sandstone, and the remains of these columns can be seen in the eastern part of the building. Column capitals represent some of the finest stone carvings of the time.
At the beginning of the 14th century, the Norman cathedral was destroyed, and in its place the construction of a new one began, with granite columns and towers in the western part. After the completion of the nave and western façade, construction began on the central tower, which collapsed in 1688 in a violent storm. Of particular interest is the nave ceiling, made in the first half of the 16th century. The carved wood panels depict the coats of arms of all the kings of Europe, as well as the Scottish earls and bishops.
The cathedral is a fine example of a fortified church, with two identical towers, which are modeled on the medieval fortresses, tower houses. The cathedral contains the graves of many famous people.
