Iona Abbey...

Another visit to Iona Abbey, or, to give it its official name, The Cathedral Church of St Mary. 

I've posted a view of the chancel tonight.  It's very compact, and austere in its overall appearance, and rather Scots in character:-

 

The original structure is of 12th century date, but it was substantially rebuilt c. 1500. 

The picture below gives you a good idea of the scale of the rebuild, with later pointed Gothic style arches sitting above an original Romanesque style doorway.  I don't really like to say it, but the end result looks a wee bit scruffy...

 

 

The abbey and its associated buildings are of course built on the site of an earlier monastery established in the 6th century by Saint Columba.  There's not much left of these earlier structures, though a succession of archaeological excavations in and around the abbey complex have revealed plenty of evidence for early medieval activity on the site.

Incidently, the information for tonight's post comes - for those of you who are interested - from the entry in the Historic Scotland Listed Building Survey.
 

Iona Abbey...

Another visit to Iona Abbey, or, to give it its official name, The Cathedral Church of St Mary. 

I've posted a view of the chancel tonight.  It's very compact, and austere in its overall appearance, and rather Scots in character:-

 

The original structure is of 12th century date, but it was substantially rebuilt c. 1500. 

The picture below gives you a good idea of the scale of the rebuild, with later pointed Gothic style arches sitting above an original Romanesque style doorway.  I don't really like to say it, but the end result looks a wee bit scruffy...

 

 

The abbey and its associated buildings are of course built on the site of an earlier monastery established in the 6th century by Saint Columba.  There's not much left of these earlier structures, though a succession of archaeological excavations in and around the abbey complex have revealed plenty of evidence for early medieval activity on the site.

Incidently, the information for tonight's post comes - for those of you who are interested - from the entry in the Historic Scotland Listed Building Survey.