Rosslyn chapel

After Edinburgh we drove down to Biggar to stay with J & B. We had a fabulous time being looked after and taken to badminton and yoga. But by far the highlight of our stay was a trip to the beautiful Rosslyn Chapel. If the name sounds familiar, you might be right, it has starred in the major novel and film "The Da Vinci Code".

The Chapel undergoing renovations

Unfortunately, you weren't allowed to take photos and i (almost) obeyed this rule. But after finding out the reason why the ban existed, i wished i had taken more. As it turns out some stupid woman had been taking photos in the chapel, had fallen and hurt herself and subsequently sued the chapel. I will admit to feeling a little enraged after hearing the story, how frustrating that some horrid woman had ruined it for everyone, i can't imagine who in their right mind would expect that something built in 1446 was an occupational health and safety dream and free from un-even flooring. Nevertheless Rosslyn Chapel more than made up for this by looking so mighty fine.

Image taken from undiscoveredscotland.com

When you walk in the chapel steals your breath away. It is layered in intricate carvings, top to bottom, pillar to post. And each little carving seems to have a story, or a history may it be rumour or truth. It is something out of a fairy tale.

The church was started around 1446 and finished well after 1484 with only a small section of the original design being built. It was meant to have been built in a giant cross shape but only one arm was completed. The chapel is built over an enormous cavern said to be the height of the chapel itself underground, and its rumoured to hold all the secrets in the world, ranging from the holy grail, the dead sea scrolls, the mummified head of Jesus, part of the original cruxifiction cross and the graves of the knights Templar. Maddeningly, the family that now owns the chapel won't allow any excavations and so, the chapel quietly holds it's secrets.

The ceiling carved with many flowers and stars. (telegraph.co.uk)

Some of the mysteries may have been unlocked from the carvings in the form of a musical score. There are small box shapes that protrude from the arches with a seemingly random collection of carvings scattered on each. Recently these have been translated into a musical score and recorded with a medieval band and can be found online somewhere.

The Chapel also has a sacristy or crypt, that seems to be underground. This is where the da vinci code indicates that there is a star above the stairs, there is a star, but it is simply the leftover adhesive that hollywood used to affix the star to where it should have been. The Sacristy is a haunting little room with bizarre carvings, but isn't underground

Surrepticious photo, not very good sorry.

A grave slab of a knight of templar

This is a skeleton holding some kind of scythe with a crown. King of death

I would recommend having a poke on the internet, because i haven't even touched upon the stories that the chapel holds, I would further recommend going there and i really wish i could have gotten married there!!!

I will leave you with a lovely quote carved into the wall ‘FORTE EST VINUM, FORTIOR EST REX, FORTIORES SUNT MULIERES: SUPER OMNIA VINCIT VERITAS’ (Wine is strong, a king is stronger, female are stronger still, but truth conquers everything)

Melaina and Graham xoxo