Beauty of Iona, Scotland

sks

Iona, a small island off the coast of Scotland.

Iona’s mainly known as being the home of the Celtic Christian church — Columba, on being exiled from Ireland in about 563 after illegally copying a book and escalating the resulting dispute into a pitched  battle which killed 3000 people, so making him the patron saint.

Pirates landed on Iona & found the abbey there. It’s still being used today & there’s a nunnery too now ruined & the Book of Kells was finished at Iona; it was a major Celtic centre & was very influential for, maybe, a thousand years.

Later, Columba travelled to Inverness. On the way, he was attacked by the Loch Ness Monster & sent it packing.

These days there’s only a couple of hundred full-time residents, mostly milking tourists.

The abbey still runs although it’s not a formal religious centre. Well worth a visit, though, as it’s beautiful.

The place is covered with Celtic high crosses, strange symbols inscribed on the hillside, some amazing beaches & an incredible amount of bog.

Map link:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Iona/@56.3290725[/url],-6.4477517,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x488ba3153683b5ab:0xd28597046bf6c7d6!8m2!3d56.3347303!4d-6.4041001

CaptSandy

Seems an awesome place