This great building is the only medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland to have survived the Reformation of 1560 virtually complete. The awe-inspiring edifice is dedicated to St Kentigern, or Mungo, as he is more affectionately known. Mungo is believed to be the first bishop within the ancient British kingdom of Strathclyde, and was buried on the site in AD 612.

The present cathedral was completed and probably roofed around 1300. The outbreak of the Wars of Independence with England seems to have interrupted the final stages of the work, for in 1306 Bishop Wishart was accused of making siege engines from the timbers supplied for the cathedral’s roof.During the later Middle Ages the bishop, canons and vicars of the cathedral all had residences within its precinct.