I had contemplated spending about $50 on a tour to the highlands that included Roslyn Chapel. Then a little bird (the girl at the front desk) told me that £2 could get you there and back. She didn't know which bus though and because it was a bank holiday the information desk was closed. I wandered down the main street until I happen to see a bus schedule that mentioned Roslin the town. That was easier than I thought it would be.
As soon as I got off of the bus I could tell how much colder it was. Roslyn Chapel is quite small. To help restore and support the 700 year old structure there is an ugly steel shell around the whole thing. Once you step inside that is all forgotten.
The stone work is amazing, I've never seen anything like it. The main ceiling was covered in flowers and stars. There were angels holding hearts, crosses and books adorning all of the windows. A young couple turned away from an upset looking devil as an angel looked on. There were also various bible stories depicted around the chapel. The 7 deadly sins took up much of an arch. Hidden among the thousands of carvings were the 'green men'. There are faces with leaves coming out of the mouths. It's a pagan idea and its unknown why there are about 130 inside the chapel alone. I was only able to spot about 25 of them.
While the chapel was being built the lead mason went to Italy for inspiration. While he was gone his apprentice had a dream and carved one of the columns. When the master mason returned he was furious, properly because the column was better than anything he could have done. In his anger he hit the apprentice over the head and killed him. In one corner is the head of the master mason forever stars at the apprentice's column. In another corner the apprentice has a gash over his head and closed eyes, his mother looks on tearfully.
Of all of the mysterious and unusual carvings was in the ceiling of the Lady Chapel. Rectangular carvings hang down from the ceiling, there are hundreds of these. Each one has a unique symbol on it. No one know what they mean, but it is agreed that it is some sort of code.
It is rumored that Roslyn may be the resting place of the Holy Grail. There is in fact a room beneath the chapel that has not been entered for over 300 years. The St. Clair family who built the chapel 700 years ago do not feel that their ancestors remains should be disturbed and will not allow any excavations of the area.
Another mystery is there some of the carvings look like corn. Corn is an American veggie. It's odd that it would be in the Roslyn Chapel as the America's and corn were not discovered until 50 years after the chapel was completed. There is a theory that the Knights Templar discovered the Americas prior to the accepted date. It is pretty certain that the Knights Templar did have something to do with Roslyn as Templar marks are found in the carvings and many knights were buried nearby.
There are several hundred niches both inside and out of the chapel that were meant to hold statues. They don't know if the statues were even ever there, and if there were, what happened to them. One theory is that during the reformation they were hidden beneath the alter. I think that would be reason enough to disturb the long dead St. Claire's.
Despite the ugliness of the steel support structure it was really cool to be able to climb up it and get a really good look at the carvings on the roof.
I was pretty shocked to see so many people at this little out of the way chapel. I was happy that they were there though. Until about 10 yeas ago the chapel was falling apart. Green moss covered all of the stonework. There was no money to keep this outstanding chapel standing. With grail lore growing over the past decade more people came and slowly more money was available. Once the Da Vinci Code came out attendance skyrocked. Now there is not just money to keep the chapel standing, but for repairs and research. It's odd to think that Hollywood and legend are keeping the chapel alive.
Unfortunately, you were not allowed to take any pictures in the chapel so you will just have to take my word for it or look it up on the Internet yourself.
By the time I had finished at Roslyn my toes and fingers were ice cubes. I was happy to be heading back to the slightly warmer Edinburgh. I still had most of my day left and headed to the National Art Museum of Scotland. After Roslyn nothing was terribly impressive. Although it was interesting to learn that Rubens often made etching of his paintings for sale to the greater public. It's through these that some of his aging paintings are able to be restored.
I haven't done much by the way of trying out Scottish cuisine and I thought it was about high time that I did. I ordered a deep fried mars bar at a local chip shop. I almost couldn't decide between the deep fried pizza and the candy bar. It was pretty good, I recommend it.
I also recommend stopping into St. Giles Kirk. Most of it is misable, but the Thistle Chapel is amazing. Wooden thistles hand from the ceiling and the choir seats are capped with Scottish symbols that are painted brightly. You have to pay £2 to take pictures in here so I can't share what it looked like.
My ticket to Roslyn had a £5 off coupon for the Edinburgh Dungeon. I'd been to the one in London and wasn't a big fan, but the reduced price drew me in. It was just a cheesy ad I had expected, but it was some good fun. They do actually use historical facts to base the various rooms on.
After this crazy busy day I was ready to just pass out in my bed, but the blog called and I was off to find an Internet cafe were I could upload pictures. I really don't see a point of posting unless I can have pictures with it. When I was done I headed back and collapsed in my bed. I planned on waking up early and heading to Glasgow. I drifted off to sleep dreaming of the Holy Grail and the mysterious room beneath Roslyn Chapel.
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