Tour Scotland travel photograph of the St Columba stained glass window in the Abbey on Isle of Iona in the Inner Hebrides off the West coast of Scotland. Colum Cille, or St Columba, the first monastic leader on Iona, lived from around AD 521 to 597. In 563, Columba and a small group of relatives and followers travelled from Ireland to Iona, a small island off the south west of Mull. According to tradition, 12 companions crossed the sea with him in a coracle. Columba's own kinship with the Irish Uí Néill royal dynasty, which was related to the ruling dynasty of the Scottish kingdom of Dál Riata, was a helpful factor in his undertaking. He received the island as a gift, and a monastery was founded. Iona Abbey, now an ecumenical church, is of particular historical and religious interest to pilgrims and visitors alike.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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