Even though I lived here in Skara my whole childhood, and have been inside the cathedral countless times, I can't remember I had ever actually been UP the towers before.
The history of this cathedral traces back to the 10th century (!) but its current Gothic appearance is from the 13th century. It has been damaged and restored on several occasions.
The towers reach a height of 63 metres.
First we climbed the northern tower, to see the peal of bells and the large main bell, cast in 1725.
This piece had broken off the bell when they hung it. I love how the word 'Hallelujah' is so clearly cut out! You can still see where it was chipped off since they never bothered to fix it, as it didn't affect the sound of the bell.
The guides were the young teenage summer trainees the church take in each summer, so the guiding was not really "guiding", more a listing of facts... But, it was an interesting visit nevertheless.
It was a little bit claustrophobic climbing those narrow stone stairs, but fortunately they weren't too high. The scariest thing was actually crossing from the north to the left tower via a very small balcony *shudders*, I've realized I'm not that good with heights, at all.
Do you see the window up the top of this photo? That's where we crossed over from one tower to the other..!
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