Thistle Chapel — Local services in City of Edinburgh

In the southeast corner of St. Giles Cathedral stands the magnificent Thistle Chapel, one of the finest neo-Gothic buildings in the world. In 1687, King James VII founded the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle and ordered that Holyrood Abbey be established as the order's chapel. Before the first eight knights could even gather in the chapel, it was destroyed by an angry mob when James was deposed during the Glorious Revolution. In the 19th century, plans were proposed for a new Thistle Chapel, but only after the estate of Ronald Leslie-Melville, 11th Earl of Leven, donated £24,000 for its creation were these plans realized. Under the direction of architect Robert Lorimer, the current chapel at St. Giles was constructed between 1909 and 1911. It took a long time for the Knights of the Thistle to have their own chapel, but the result is...

The Thistle Chapel is a 1909 addition to the cathedral. It was designed in a neo-Gothic style. The chapel serves as an annual meeting point for the members of the Order of the Thistle, a chivalric order founded in 1687 by king James VII of Scotland, and II of England.

The Order of the Thistle, for whom this chapel was built, is the highest honour available in Scotland and the second highest in the country after The Order of the Garter.

The Order of the Thistle is a Scottish order of chivalry, second only to the Order of the Garter. There are sixteen Knights and Ladies, and currently three Extra Knights and Ladies.

There is a service for the order held in the chapel once a year around June or July when the Queen is staying at...

Really cool place to go - I really loved Gothic Architecture, beautiful stained glass windows and weird religious orders steeped in strange tradition (do not expect diversity and inclusion when learning about the members) Massive shout out to the guide in suspenders in the Thistle Chapel on Sat 16/09/23 - he was super knowledgeable and able to answer all our questions about the order in a really entertaining way - got us all in giggles He honestly really made...