<< Our Photo Pages >> Iona Cross - Ancient Cross in Scotland in Isle of Mull
Submitted by nicoladidsbury on Tuesday, 24 March 2015 Page Views: 54277
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: Iona Cross Alternative Name: Relig OdhrainCountry: Scotland County: Isle of Mull Type: Ancient Cross
Map Ref: NM286245
Latitude: 56.334839N Longitude: 6.392756W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Megalithic89 visited on 1st Sep 1986 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 5
coin visited - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4
jeffrep nicoladidsbury sorschaL FrothNinja DaygloViking have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4.5 Ambience: 5 Access: 4.5
The Abbey, whose earliest parts date back to the 11th century, produced some of the most beautiful and intricately carved "Celtic" crosses in Scotland - Islay's Kildalton Cross, ornately carved in the 7th century from a single slab of rock, was probably by a sculptor from Iona - and it is thought that the famous Book of Kells may have been partly written on the island.
Maclean's Cross close to the nunnery, by the parish church and manse, is the 15th century MacLean Cross which is a well preserved example of Iona workmanship. On the far side is a carving of the crucifixion. The cross is located at what was once the junction of the islands two main roads.
Today only 3 early free standing High Crosses remain on Iona out of over 1,000 that existed here in the middle ages. Such crosses were very popular in N Britain, Scotland, and Ireland during the 8th C and often displayed remarkable artistic skill. The surviving crosses are St. John's Cross, St. Martin's Cross and St. Matthew's Cross, all of which are found west of the Abbey. The remains of two other early crosses, the St. Odran's Cross andthe stem of an unknown cross can be seen in the Nunnery Museum.
Due to weathering the original St. John's Cross has been removed for repair. A good replica now stands in its stead. All of these crosses were constructed from large pieces of granite slotted together with mortis-and-tenon joints. The sides of the crosses are elaborately decorated with vines, ornamental circles, flowers and scenes from the gospels. The west face of the St. Martin's Cross depicts Daniel in the Lion's Den, while the east face of the St. Mathew's Cross shows the temptation of Adam and Eve. Clearly in an age where books were expensive and rare, high stone crosses served to communicate the gospel to a largely illiterate population
Note: The Iona Abbey Research Project: a New Understanding of Scotland's Most Sacred Place, full video of a talk given to the Society of Antiquaries London. Includes a section decoding the symbolism of this cross at about 48 minutes in.
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