St Andrews Cathedral
Fife

From over the harbour area looking north-west and in the distance are the golf links and the Eden estuary.

The tallest part is St Rule's tower, currently only open to guided tours to climb to the top.

On the right is the ruined church of St Mary on the Rock which was outside the abbey walls and was used to accommodate the original monks expelled from the cathedral site by the Augustinians.

In the middle distance at the top of the photo are from left to right South Street, Market Street and North Street, the three almost parallel streets of the medieval town of St Andrews.

Started in around 1160 the cathedral took one hundred and fifty years to build and the opening was attended by Robert Bruce, King of Scotland.

The impressive walls round the cathedral are part of the protection for St Andrews Abbey. The walls are in total well over half a mile long.

The cathedral became a place of pilgrimage to see the relics of St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland. At that time it was the biggest and most impressive church in Scotland.

Looking south from over the sea.