Although the water was very calm, I did
feel a little seasick on this crossing.
We then drove a little over an hour to reach
Fionnphort. The ferry to Iona departs from this town. This was a
much smaller ferry and the crossing only took about 10 minutes.
The lovely blue water at Fionnphort.
Iona Abbey viewed from the ferry
The water is so clear!
Iona is a small
isalnd 3 miles in length and 1.5 miles wide. There is a ruined
medieval nunnery and a restored Abbey to see.
The Cloister
The view from the east end of the church
A small section of vaulted ceiling remains.
A Jackdaw
It was very warm, sunny and peaceful!
St Oran's Chapel
The remains of a tomb in St Oran's Chapel
Detail of above
A grave slab insde the chapel
The Abbey Church, viewed from the west.
St Columba
The 8th Duke of Argyll gave the abbey and its lands to a trust
and it was restored during the late19th and into 20th century.
The Quire
The sanctuary
The Lectern
The Altar (made of marble from a quarry on Iona)
Not many churches have plants growing on their internal walls!
Looking west from the
sanctuary
The Cloister with The Abbey Church in the background. In 1938,
a community was founded at the Abbey. The Iona Community
restored many of the other buildings of the abbey. Retreats
are still run there to this day
This small building was the shrine of St Columba. Because of
raids by Vikings, his remains were moved in 849 to various
places in Scotland and Ireland. There is a small reliquary
inide the chapel which contains, it is claimed, some relics
of the saint.
This concrete replica cross was created in 1970 - a labour of
love to return St John's Cross to its position outside St
Columba's shrine.
The original cross was artistically sensational and
technically ambitious. But it was structurally flawed,
collapsing repeatedly. It is now in the Abbey Museum.
The Stone of Echodi is the oldest carved stone to survive on
Iona, probably carved within a generation of Columba's death
in 597.
Grave slab c. 1500s
Strapping on his sword, this warrior prepares for battle.
However, the sword may only be a symbol.
In reality, he probably fought using an axe or a spear.
Iona Parish Church (Church of Scotand) was built in 1828. The
nearby manse, built at the same time, is now a café and
heritage centre.
We enjoyed lunch at the café.
In the heritage centre was this photo showing the abbey church
beofre it was restored.
After our return on the ferry to the Isle of Mull, we passed by
this little church. It is St Ernan's Church in Creich (Church of
Scotland)
Note the thickness of the walls
The pulpit...
...has a mechanism by which the book stand can be raised or
lowered according to the preference of the preacher!
Next we visited this ruined church at
Kilvickeon. It was abandoned in 1795 when a new church was
built at nearby Bunessan.
The congregation is made up of a different kind of "flock"
these days.
It was good to see that the graveyard and church are being
looked after. The grass had just been mown.
This grave slab, protected by a wooden box, is still inside
the church building. The notice reads, in part, "The Mariota
Stone is one of the oldest of a number of. impressive table
tombs and headstones in the churchyard, The name appears on
the inscription which reads: Here lies Mariota; daughter of...
The Mariota Stone dates, to around 1500-1560 AD. It is
beautifully carved from West Highland slate, naturally studded
by flecks of iron pyrite, with parallel plant-scrolls, topped
with animals and a memorial panel inscribed with the name of
the person it was intended to commemorate. It is a
particularly fine example of the school of West Highland Late
Medieval. Sculpture providing an evocative and visual
picture.of life, faith and belief in the medieval Highlands
and Islands,"
It was very warm in the sun but we didn't realise just how
warm until we got back in the car! Of course the actual air
temperature outside was a lot less than this but we certainly
didn't expect Scotland to be actually hot!
Dinner at the Keel Row pub was rather good!
We were glad that we don't live in this particular town!
A permanent resident of our accommodation at Bunessan.