Old photograph of the Nave in Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland. This Scottish abbey, which is located in the grounds of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which it predates, was built in 1128 at the order of King David I of Scotland. All that survives of the rebuilt church is the nave. This was spared at the Protestant Reformation in 1560 because it served as the parish church of Canongate, the next burgh. The choir and transepts were destroyed in 1570.
Old photograph of the Nave in Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland. Legend relates that in 1127, while King David I was hunting in the forests to the east of Edinburgh during the Feast of the Cross, he was thrown from his horse after it had been startled by an animal. According to variations of the story, the king was saved from being gored by the charging animal due to it by being startled either by the miraculous appearance of a holy cross descending from the skies, or from the sunlight reflected from a crucifix which suddenly appeared set between the hart's antlers while the king attempted to grasp them in self-defence. As an act of thanksgiving for his escape, David I founded Holyrood Abbey on the site in 1128. The abbey was originally served by a community of Augustinian canons from Merton Priory. The layout of the abbey is clearly based on that building.
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