St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral | |
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St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral (of the Assumption) | |
St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral, Edinburgh
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Coordinates: 55°57′22″N 3°11′16″W / 55.9561°N 3.1877°W | |
Location | Edinburgh, Midlothian |
Country | Scotland |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Website | stmaryscathedral.co.uk |
History | |
Former name(s) | St Mary's Chapel (1814) |
Consecrated | 1814 |
Associated people | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle christened; under Charles Hargitt The Edinburgh Royal Choral Union (1858), under Arthur Oldham The Edinburgh Festival Chorus and The Scottish Opera Chorus were founded with a nucleus from the Cathedral Choir. |
Architecture | |
Status | Metropolitan Cathedral (of the Province of St Andrews and Edinburgh) |
Heritage designation | Listed B |
Architect(s) | James Gillespie Graham 1813-14; Reginald Fairlie War Memorial, High Altar 1921; Baldachino 1927; Augustus Welby Pugin - design |
Years built | 1814 |
Administration | |
Archdiocese | St Andrews and Edinburgh |
Province | St Andrews and Edinburgh |
Clergy | |
Archbishop | Leo Cushley |
Laity | |
Director of music | Michael Ferguson, Director of Music |
Organist(s) | Vacant |
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption is a Roman Catholic church located in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, and the mother church of Scots Catholicism.
The Chapel of St Mary's was opened in 1814, and was originally designed by James Gillespie Graham. The church was considerably embellished over the years, and in 1878 on the restoration of the Scottish hierarchy it became the pro-cathedral of the new Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. It was renamed the Metropolitan Cathedral on 5 July 1886 with all the rights and privileges appertaining to such a Church. It contains the National Shrine of St. Andrew.
The cathedral has been enlarged, rebuilt and remodelled many times over the years, with the last major structural changes commencing in the 1970s. Pope John Paul II visited St Mary's in May 1982 as part of his pastoral visit to Scotland.
Concerts and recitals were held in the building during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe each August, from 2009 to 2016.
The cathedral formerly operated a cafe in an adjoining building. It was used as a venue as part of the Free Fringe at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
From 2017 the many parishes in Edinburgh have been organised into clusters to better coordinate their resources. St. Mary's Cathedral is one of four parishes in Cluster 1 along with Ss Ninian and Triduana, St Patrick and St. Albert.