Tour Scotland Video Rosslyn Chapel Roslin Near Edinburgh

Tour Scotland video of Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh, Scotland. This Chapel, correctly named the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew, was founded on a small hill above Roslin Glen as a Catholic collegiate church in the mid 15th century. It was founded by William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness of the Sinclair family, a noble family descended in part from Norman knights from the commune of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in northern France. The chapel, built 150 years after the dissolution of the Knights Templar, supposedly has many Templar symbols. The Apprentice Pillar, or Prentice Pillar, gets its name from a legend dating from the 18th century involving the master mason in charge of the stonework in the chapel and his young apprentice. According to the legend, the master mason did not believe that the apprentice could perform the complicated task of carving the column without seeing the original which formed the inspiration for the design. The master mason travelled to see the original himself, but upon his return was enraged to find that the upstart apprentice had completed the column anyway. Another notable feature of Rosslyn's architecture is the presence of Green Men. These are carvings of human faces with greenery all around them, often growing out of their mouths.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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