Dunkeld Cathedral

📍 Perth and Kinross, Scotland

4.5 ★★★★½ 2,800 reviews

About

Dunkeld Cathedral is a Church of Scotland place of worship which stands on the north bank of the River Tay in Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Built in square-stone style of predominantly grey sandstone, the cathedral proper began in 1260 and was completed in 1501. It stands on the site of the former Culdee Monastery of Dunkeld, stones from which can be seen as an irregular reddish streak in the eastern gable.

In 849, King Kenneth MacAlpin brought relics of St Columba from Iona to Dunkeld to protect them from Viking raids, establishing it as a major ecclesiastical centre. The cathedral combines Gothic and Norman elements — the nave stands in picturesque ruin while the choir remains in active use as a parish church. Columba's bones were kept here until the Reformation.