Dunkeld Cathedral

We left Edinburgh and started our journey into the Highlands. Our first stop was in the medieval town of Dunkeld to see the Dunkeld Cathedral. 

The Dunkeld Cathedral is an ancient sacred place. Its

transition over the years reflects how religion and politics have intersected in Scotland's history. Part of this history dates back to 563 AD when Columba founded an important abbey on Iona which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region. Columba was an Irish Abbott and missionary who is credited with spreading Christianity in what is Scotland today.

The early church of Dunkeld was probably started as a Culdee settlement. The Culdees were hermit monks who lived contemplative lives in small communities. In 849 AD, relics of Columba were removed from the abbey on Iona and brought to Dunkeld to protect them from Viking raids. 

Construction of the Dunkeld Cathedral took about 250 years from the mid 1200's until the late 1400's. But desecration of the cathedral came with the Scottish Reformation in 1560 when any symbols of the Catholic faith were destroyed. 

More destruction occurred in 1689 during the first Jacobite uprising in Dunkeld which included the cathedral that was set ablaze. 

Today, the Dunkeld Cathedral still hosts regular Sunday services as well as houses a small museum which information about it storied past.