St. Margaret’s Chapel

St. Margaret’s Chapel. . , St. Margaret’s Chapel , This Holy Place is the Oldest Surviving Building in Edinburgh , King David I built the chapel in about 1130, probably as part of a great stone tower. He dedicated it to his saintly mother, Margaret. The squared stones, distinctive windows and decorated arch reveal its medieval origins. , Temple of The Lord , The chapel was one of the most sacred places in Scotland. The royal family often worshipped within its once brightly painted interior. Robert the Bruce spared the chapel when he destroyed the rest of the castle after its recapture from the English in 1314. , Scotland's Royal Saint , Margaret, a Saxon princess, fled to Scotland soon after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.In 1070, she married King Máel Coluim or Malcolm Canmore (who appears in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth) and became renowned for her piety and learning. , Beyond the Grave , After her death in the castle in 1093, Margaret's body was smuggled past a besieging army to be entombed at Dunfermline. She was made Scotland's only royal saint by Pope Innocent IV in 1249. Mary Queen of Scots had a gilded shrine containing Margaret's head brought to the castle in 1566, to protect her during the birth of the future King James VI. , Lost and Found , After the Protestant Reformation in the 1560s, the chapel was converted into a gunpowder store and its origins forgotten. It endured many sieges before being rediscovered in 1845. , Queen Victoria supported the chapel's restoration in 1851–2. Scottish saints and heroes, including St Margaret and William Wallace, are shown in the stained glass, installed in 1922. , ( photo captions ) , - Above: A page from St Margaret's gospel book depicting St John. Margaret brought this treasured volume with her to the castle. It was said to have miraculously survived being dropped into a river during her lifetime. A facsimile is on display inside the chapel. , - Left: St Margaret on the seal of Dunfermline Abbey in the 1300s. , - Left: St Margaret's Chapel as the master gunner's store in a plan of 1754. The building shown to its right was the garrson chapel, demolished in the 19th century. , - Below: St Margaret in a 15th-century prayer book.