Sunday, December 27, 2009

The Importance Of The Church To St. Andrews

By Frederick Hoymer

St Andrews is a popular tourist spot when visiting Scotland. This city is on the east coast and bears the name of St Andrew, an apostle. The church in St Andrews dates back to the 8th century and is a very important historical building in town. The actual town settled and grew directly next to the cathedral. Today the ancient cathedral is ruins.

The first people to settle in St Andrews were most likely nomadic people during the Stone Age. Eventually when tools developed then stayed in one spot and cleared trees to produce land that could be used for farming and other agricultural purposes. St Andrews also was the ecclesiastical capital of Scotland which gave it sufficient political influence in Europe.

You will be quite surprised that St Andrews actually has very nice weather. Many people think that it is raw and cold but the winter is actually very mild and it is very rare to see snow. There are several frosts during the winter. The summer does not get overly warm with average temperatures in the low 20 degree C.

While St Andrews is located quite northerly the weather is actually fairly mild and is considered a maritime climate. The winter does not get overly cold with only a few frosts and snow is quite rare. The summer tends to be cool with temperatures just around 20 degrees C.

The University of St Andrews is one of the oldest and originated in 1410. The first subjects studied were divinity, canon law and the arts. After the Scottish Reformation the courses of study changed from being mainly religious to a more modern course of study. Eventually by the end of the 1800s it would have its own school of medicine and would expand dramatically.

The university in St Andrews is one of the oldest in the world as it first opened its doors in 1410. This school was mainly for the priesthood as the main subjects were canon law, divinity and the arts. The entire course of study was altered after the Scottish Reformation and stopped being religious based to more modern courses. The school began to expand until it included its own school of medicine.

It is possible to view the ruins of the old cathedral which was the tallest building in Scotland until it was destroyed. The west and east gables as well as the south nave wall are still standing. The ruins of St Andrews castle can be viewed at the top of the cliff in its original spot.

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