Only about 20,000 people live on 20 of the 70 islands that make up Orkney. As a Tasmanian living on an island to the far south of most Australians, there is something compeling about visiting an island to far north of most British people.
A lot of Orkney looks like this, gentle rolling hills, houses dotting the landscape, heavily farmed for over 4,000 years, almost no trees, and water never far from sight. It is frequently windy and often wet, not surprising considering its location between the north Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea.
The second largest town, Stromness, is an old fishing town, with some arty incomers and plenty of tourists wandering its narrow winding main street. This picture proves that Orkney has at least one day of summer!
This is where Eliza Fraser, whose shipwreck and rescue by aborigines, gives Fraser Island its name, comes from. Her house is one of many that has a historical plaque on it.
Many of the houses are so close they have the bottom corners cut out to improve traffic flow, or in this case, pedestrian flow.
Kirkwall is the main town, about 30 minutes from Stromness on the opposite side of the Orkney Mainland. We are staying just a very short walk from the main street and waterfront.
Kirkwall's main attraction is this huge unusual cathedral. It is Viking built! It was built by a Viking king of Orkney in honour of his uncle, Magnus, a previous Viking king of Orkney who was betrayed and killed by his cousin. Magnus was a devout Christian around whom a cult developed resulting in him being made a saint.
So the church is called St Magnus Cathedral and was constructed around 1127.
Its unusual appearance is due to the use of alternating bands of red and yellow sandstone, and large round columns inside. The bones of St Magnus are inside one of the columns near the altar.
No comments:
Post a Comment