ROMANTIC SUMMER TOURS OF HOLYROODHOUSE

THE ABBEY WAS FOUNDED IN 1128 BY KING DAVID I OF SCOTLAND FOR THE AUGUSTINIAN CANONS. ACCORDING TO MEDIEVAL LEGEND, A VISION OF A STAG WITH A CROSS GLOWING BETWEEN ITS ANTLERS CAME TO DAVID WHILE HUNTING IN THE AREA. INTERPRETING THIS AS AN ACT OF GOD, THE KING DECLARED THAT AN ABBEY SHOULD BE BUILT ON THE SAME SPOT. HOLY ROOD, THE NAME OF THE ABBEY AND SUBSEQUENTLY THE PALACE, MEANS 'HOLY CROSS'. A FRAGMENT OF WHICH HAD BEEN BROUGHT TO SCOTLAND BY DAVID I's MOTHER, ST MARGARET, AND KEPT AT THE ABBEY UNTIL THE 14th CENTURY. THE AUGUSTINIAN CANONS WERE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE BURGH OF CANANGATE, SUPPORTING THE SICK AND POOR WITHIN THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY. THEY WERE ENTIRELY SELF-SUFFICIENT, GROWING THEIR OWN FOOD, VEGETABLES AND PLANTS, AND GRAZING SHEEP TO TRADE AND EXPORT THEIR WOOL. EXTENSIVE MONASTIC BUILDINGS, REVEALED DURING EXCAVATIONS IN 2006, WERE ADDED TO ACCOMMODATE THE LARGE COMMUNITY. THEY INCLUDED CLOISTERS, A CHAPTER HOUSE, A REFECTORY AND MONASTIC AND ROYAL GUEST HOUSES. TODAY ONLY THE PROCESSIONAL DOOR LEADING FROM THE CLOISTERS SURVIVES FROM THE PERIOD. MOST OF THE REMAINING STRUCTURE DATES FROM THE EARLY 13th CENTURY, WHEN THE ORIGINAL BUILDING WAS REMODELED INTO A MORE MAGNIFICENT CATHEDRAL-LIKE EDIFICE. THE ABBEY WAS A THRIVING AND PROFITABLE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION UNTIL THE MID 16th CENTURY, WHEN IT SUFFERED BADLY FROM A NUMBER OF RAIDS. AMONG THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE WERE THESE BY HENRY VIII's ARMY IN 1544 AND 1547. AFTER THE REFORMATION, THE ABBEY'S MONASTIC BUILDINGS WERE ABANDONED BY THE CANONS, AND IN 1570 THE EASTERN PARTS OF THE CHURCH AND THE OUTBUILDINGS WERE DEMOLISHED. IN 1768 THE ROOF OF THE ABBEY COLLAPSED, AND THE BUILDING WAS LEFT RUINED. THE PICTURESQUE REMAINS OF THE HOLYROOD ABBEY HAVE INFLUENCED NUMEROUS ARTISTS AND WRITERS, AMONG THEM FELIX MENDELSSOHN. THEIR MELANCHOLY GRANDEUR INSPIRED THE COMPOSER'S GREAT SCOTTISH SYMPHONY. TOURS OF HOLYROOD ABBEY ARE PART OF A VISIT TO THE PALACE OF HOLYROODHOUSE FROM 18.JULY THROUGH 30.SEPTEMBER. THEY TAKE PLACE ON THE HOUR AND LAST APPROXIMATELY 30 MINUTES.