Isle of Iona
Places of Interest
Places of Interest
Iona, with its beauty and white sand beaches, has a time and place for everyone. From Dunbhuirg, the Iron Age fort, to the Marble Quarry, worked even in the 20th Century; from St Columba's Bay in the south, to the White Strand of the Monks in the north, many places have their stories to tell.
Beyond there are the timeless distant views from Islay to the south through Tiree, Coll, the Treshnish Isles and Staffa, to the Cuillins of Skye to the north.
Iona Abbey
Iona Abbey was founded by St Columba in 563, although little remains of the monastic buildings of this period. The Columban community survived several Viking attacks but around 1200 a community of Benedictine monks was founded on the site by Reginald, son of Somerled, the self-styled ‘king of the Isles’.
The Nunnery
The Augustinian nunnery was founded at the same time as the Benedictine Abbey and is one of the best-preserved medieval nunneries in Britain. The first prioress was Beathag (in English Beatrice), sister of Reginald who founded both the abbey and nunnery.
Marble Quarry
The Marble Quarry is a place where you can allow your imagination free rein. The old machinery was abandoned when the quarry closed in around 1918 and stands silently a testament to a time gone by.
Sìthean Mòr
It is an ancient practice to pray at the rising and setting of the sun, those times of confluence when the day meets the night and the light gives way to darkness.
St Columba's Bay
St.Columba`s Bay, at the south end of Iona, is believed to be the place where St.Columba and his fellow monks landed on Iona in 563.
Reilig Òdhrain
Also known as St Oran’s Graveyard, this burial ground has been in use for many centuries.