St Oran's Chapel (Iona)

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St. Oran's Chapel, behind the Iona Monastery

St. Oran's Chapel is a church building on the Scottish Hebridean island of Iona . It is located on the grounds of the Iona Monastery on the east coast of the island across from the neighboring island of Mull . As part of the monastery complex, it is designated as a Scheduled Monument .

The building is possibly dedicated to Odran of Iona, who was buried on Iona in 548 . Alternatively, the Irish Scottish missionary Oranna can be considered. It is an elongated stone building in the Romanesque style. It is illuminated via slit windows and ends with a slate-covered gable roof of more recent date.

history

Church entrance

As early as 563, Saint Columban founded the island's oldest monastery complex, which grew into one of the Christian centers of Scotland in the following centuries. When exactly St. Oran's Chapel was built is not certain. Possibly there was a previous building from the 9th or 10th century, on which the present church was built around 1250. Reports that Queen Margaret of Scotland commissioned the construction appear unlikely, given the year of her death in 1093. From MacAlpin , the last King of Dalriada and first King of Scotland, died in the year 858, up to Macbeth all Scottish kings with two exceptions are buried in the cemetery.

This and the Celtic crosses from this time preserved in the cemetery speak for the existence of a previous building. Irish kings and, after the Christianization of the Vikings, various Viking leaders were buried there. In the literature there are various statements that up to 46 Scottish kings and other kings from Ireland, Norway and France were buried on Iona. From today's perspective, however, these figures should be viewed with skepticism. None of the royal graves have survived today, but some graves could be assigned to different medieval clan heads .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Scheduled Monument - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  2. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  3. ↑ a b Entry on St Oran's Chapel  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  4. ↑ BBC: Scotland's History: Iona

Web links

Coordinates: 56 ° 20 '3.9 "  N , 6 ° 23' 34.2"  W.