Rosslyn Chapel

It is almost the end of the stay in Edinburgh. I've got 2 weeks left of work, and the weekend just gone was the last weekend I will be staying in Edinburgh. I am not looking forward to leaving as I have really enjoyed my stay here, made new friends and the weather here is more agreeable to me than the London weather.

One of the things I said I was going to do while I'm in the neighbourhood is to visit Rosslyn Chapel. On Saturday, after a lazy morning (and early afternoon), I finally ventured out to catch a bus to Roslin. I got the 3:45 pm bus (hourly). I got there at 4:30pm and Rosslyn Chapel was just a short walk from the village. At first impression, it did not look like the movie because I had to walk along a path, and there were no sweeping hills and countryside.

The entrance fee was £7 and I was just in time for the last tour at 5pm. The chapel was only opened until 6pm anyway, so I just made it.

Another difference from the movie was that the real chapel has a canopy built over it. It acts as an umbrella to prevent the chapel from getting wetter from the rain, and therefore allowing the stones to dry naturally and prevent further deterioration. The guide told us that in the Da Vinci Code filming, they built a 20 foot model of the chapel for the shoot, instead of taking the canopy down. The canopy is a very sturdy structure and visitors are even allowed to go up to the platform and get a closer look at the roof and turrets from the outside.

The chapel is not very big at all, but it is very elaborately carved everywhere, inside and out. There are so many carvings that told stories you don't know where to start. The guide gave us some explanation of some of the more interesting ones.

Another interesting fact was that the chapel was only the choir area of a much larger plan. The larger plan was supposed to be a church in the shape of a cruxifix and the chapel was only the top part of it. In fact there are two walls that go out from the chapel as if it is the start of the arms of the cruxifix. The chapel took 40 years to complete because it was so elaborate, not surprising that they never completed the rest of it!

There was also a flight of stairs going down to a lower level. This was in the movie, but it led to another chambe and was a dead end. There is no crypt or library etc as in the movie. However, the guide did say that they believe there is an area under the chapel, and though they tried to access it, it has not been successful.

It was an interesting excursion for me, and sorry for spoiling the movie fantasy for you with the reality I learnt!