Scotland Guide
Northeast Scotland
St Machar's Cathedral
Address: Chanonry
Opening time: Daily 9am–5pm, except during services
Price: Free
St Machar's Cathedral, overlooking Seaton Park and the River Don, was reputedly founded in 580 AD by Machar, a follower of Columba, when he was sent by the latter to find a grassy platform near the sea, overlooking a river shaped like the crook on a bishop's crozier. This setting fitted the bill perfectly, and the cathedral, a huge fifteenth-century fortified building, became one of the city's first great granite edifices.