Photographs of the Scottish Hebridean Isle of Iona.
Iona Abbey on the Island of Iona in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland.
In 563, Columba came to Iona from Ireland with twelve companions, and founded a monastery, but little remains of the monastic buildings of that early 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 abbey remained an important place of worship and pilgrimage until the Reformation in 1560, after which monastic life came to an end.
It’s thought that the world famous Book of Kells was made here, along with other great works of art. Iona’s Abbey Museum houses Scotland’s finest collection of early medieval carved stones and crosses.
The 12th century St Oran's Chapel and the ancient Reilig Odhrain burial ground on the Isle of Iona in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland.
The Nunnery Church, Iona Nunnery on the Inner Hebridean Isle of Iona, Scotland.
The Augustinian convent was established after the foundation of the nearby Benedictine monastery of 1203. The nunnery was reduced to a ruin following the reformation.
Maclean's Cross on the Island of Iona, Scotland.
Medieval pilgrims going to the abbey, paused at this 15th century roadside cross to pray.
The Bishop's House on the north side of Iona Abbey was built in the 1630s for Bishop Neil Campbell.
The Parish Church of Iona in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland.
The church was built in 1828 by William Thomson, to a design by James Smith of Inverness.
Iona Gallery and Pottery, housed in a converted croft on the Inner Herbridean Island of Iona, Scotland. Visit the website