Italian Cloister Garden

A place for peaceful contemplation in the City Centre. Opened on 16 May 2011, it is situated beside St Andrew's RC Cathedral in Glasgow. Open to the public from 10 am - 6 pm every day.

An architect from Rome designed the garden with the water feature and central mirrored monument. It commemorates around 100 Scots who died when the liner the Arandora Star was sunk in July 1940 off the coast of Ireland.

At the opening event, Archbishop Mario Conti said it had been an opportunity to make a difference to a space in the city, and "it encourages us to reflect on the great mysteries of life, death and resurrection".

There are texts from scripture and literature inscribed in the mirrors. You can see some here if you look in large. Some of the quotations :

"Believe in God, believe also in me.
I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me."
John 14:1,6

"In His will is our peace:
that sea to which everything flows."
Dante

"... So engulfed am I in this
immensity, that shipwreck is a welcome thought."
Leopardi

"...for us fate has ordained
a tomb where no one will weep."
Foscolo

I wanted to include the mirrored image of the 200 year old olive tree in my Blip - it was gifted by a community in Tuscany. It reminded me of Amalari, and how I miss her from the Blipfoto community.