Découvrir Saint Andrews

The name of this Scottish town comes from Saint Andrew the Apostle. The presence of an important church since the 8th century first, and of a bishopric since the 11st century then, were decisive to the origin of a settlement which grew to the West of St Andrews cathedral. As burgh, it soon became the ecclesiatical capital of Scotland, at least until the Scottish reformation - the famous cathedral, which was the largest in Scotland, now is in ruins. The small city - former royal burgh - is on the East coast of Fife in Scotland, 16 km South-East of Dundee and 50 km North-East of Edinburgh. Besides history, there are three reasons to prove the importance of Saint Andrews. The first and more general is certainly related to tourism. Nature-based tourism - Saint Andrews is close to the sea - as well as monuments and venues - such as, for example, the Tower of Holy Trinity, St Andrews Castle or West Port - are worth considering (regarding museums, one can mention The British Golf Museum). A second reason is based on the local University, as University of St Andrews is the oldest in Scotland (1410), one of the oldest in the world and a very prestigious institution. Last but not least, the third reason is that St Andrews is universally recognized as "home of golf", due to the presences of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, founded in 1754, which has legislative authority over the game in the world (US and Mexico excluded), and to St Andrews Links, structure which is now formed by seven public golf courses - the Balgove, Eden, Jubilee Course, Strathtyrum, the New Course, the new Castle Course and obviously the Old Course, dated back to 15th century as golf course. St Andrews Links is also the most frequent venue for The Open Championship, which is one of the four major championships in the world, and certainly the oldest. A huge tourism based on golf is a logical consequence of the story and prestige of this sport in Saint Andrews.