The St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, Scotland is one of the city’s major and most prominent landmarks. Kirkwall is an island town, located on the island of Orkney, north of the mainland shores of Scotland. It is part of a collection of small British islands in these northern waters. St. Magnus is further north than any other cathedral in Britain and this 12th century building dominates that town’s skyline. Tourists who visit Scotland will often take a ferry to some of the coastal islands, while others choose to center their entire vacation on one of these fabulous and beautiful islands. Tourists staying in one of the great Kirkwall hotels may plan an excursion into the Scottish mainland, though they are certain to plan a visit to the St. Magnus Cathedral during their stay.
The cathedral is was built in the early 12th century and it is commonly estimated that
Construction began in 1137. This Romanesque fortress is one of the Scotland’s great examples of early Norman architecture. The masonry used in the construction was composed of red sandstone that was quarried near the area as well as a yellow sandstone that was collected and brought back to Kirkwall from the island of Eday. The use of the Eday sandstone was not due to a lack of red stone on Kirkwall, but was actually incorporated into the design. The two sandstone colors were often used alternately to form a checkerboard pattern, which creates a polychrome effect in the cathedral.
St. Magnus is located very near to the Bishop’s Palace that was built during the construction of the cathedral. It was built for the first bishop William the Old. At that time the diocese was existed under the authority of Norway’s Archbishop of Nidaros. This structure, has fallen into ruins throughout the centuries, and today it exists as a relic of the original palace. It has been estimated that its design was typical to standard Norwegian royal architecture and likely had a tower house, and the main area would have had a long rectangular hall that would have existed over storerooms. It is often confuses for the remains of a castle.
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