After a few ports in Iceland, we headed south to the Orkney Islands in Scotland. I woke at around 3 am to check out the sky.
It appears that the moon is almost full.
Waking again at 8 am we were already in port.
We had a shuttle ride into town which was great because it would have been a 45 minute walk through not so nice scenery. Our first stop was St. Magnus Cathedral founded in 1137.
Inside the cathedral, it was obvious that this was built in medieval times.
Many of these older cathedrals are in ruins. Hanging on one of the giant pillars is a 17th-century Mort Brod. This is a wooden death notice commemorating the Kirkwell hlazier Robert Nicholson, it is one of the oldest in all of Scotland.
The cathedral’s oldest gravestone possibly from the 13th century depicts a carved morning star symbol and a sword. This may have been for a crusader or Templar Knight.
The chapel at the east end is dedicated to St. Rognvald, the cathedral founder.
The memorial to Dr. John Rae is next to the chapel. Dr. Rae was employed by the Hudson Bay Company. He explored the Canadian Arctic.
Most of the cathedral stained glass was designed in the 1920s.
On the south wall is a stoned arch opening located higher up. This was the Marwicks Hole dungeon where they kept women accused of witchcraft.
As we sat in this ancient cathedral, I could almost feel the souls of the long-lost cavorting about restlessly.
Outside the cathedral, we wandered around the old graveyard.
We decided to have a cup of coffee and scone before we headed to the next site.
We headed over to the Earls’s place, built in early 1600s.
Earl Patrick had a bad reputation and he spent money frivolously. He was a cousin to the king. When the palace was finally completed, Earl Patrick was financially destitute and the king made him give this property to the Bishop. Earl Patrick eventually was beheaded for treason in 1615.
The Bishop’s Palace was built in the 12th century so quite a bit older than the Earl’s Palace.
We only had access to the first floor or actually it had been the cellar.
We walked around town for a bit, going into some local shops and then headed back to the ship. I really wanted to visit the stones but the bus would have been sketchy because of time frames and we couldn’t find a cab. So we have a reason to visit again.
#orkneyislands#scotland#travel#cruise#stmagnuscathedral#earlspalace#bushopspalace#princess#scones#port#
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