The city: Must see - Greyfriars Kirk & Kirkyard
Posted on Saturday, September 25 @ 00:00:00 PDT by poster
At the bottom of a stone canyon made up of tenements, churches, volcanic cliffs and the castle, Greyfriars Kirkyard is one of Edinburgh's most evocative spots - a peaceful oasis dotted with memorials and surrounded by Edinburgh's dramatic skyline. The kirk (church) was built on the site of a Franciscan friary and opened for worship on Christmas Day 1620. In 1638, the National Covenant was signed inside near the pulpit. The covenant rejected Charles I's attempts to reintroduce episcopacy and a new English prayer book, and affirmed the independence of the Scottish church. Many who signed were later executed in Grassmarket and, in 1679, 1200 Covenanters were held prisoner in terrible conditions in an enclosure in the yard. There's a small exhibition inside.
Another area attraction stems from the story of Bobby, a Skye terrier who maintained a vigil over the grave of his master, an Edinburgh police officer, from 1858 to 1872. In the kirk you can buy Greyfriars Bobby - The Real Story at Last, Forbes Macgregor's debunking of some of the myths surrounding Bobby. Bobby's grave is just inside the entrance to the kirkyard.
