If you are interested in deciphering the myths and ambiguities of history, if you aim to explore the historical buildings and study the ancient architecture, Edinburgh is waiting for you.Among the most visited of tourist attractions of Edinburgh is 'The Roslyn Chapel' which attracts over 25,000 visitors annually. The chapel was built by Sir William St Clair in 1446 and is situated about 10 Km away from the city, in picturesque Roslyn village in Midlothian.
Though the 15th century building has always been an attraction for the visitors, however the recent conspiracy theory novel 'The Da Vinci Code', and the feature film of same name, has played an important role in increasing the interest of history enthusiasts in the Roslyn Chapel's mysteries.The chapel is said to have ties with ancient Knight Templars and Freemasons while the architecture of the building represents a mosaic of Christian, Masonic and Pagan symbolism at its best.It has a long series of carvings, strange patterns and structures which are considered to be cyphered messages. Following is a brief description of some of the strange structures in the chapel:
Apprentice Pillar: The pillar has a face carving in it, which is said to be of a master mason. Castle Apartments Edinburgh According to a legend the master mason had killed his apprentice for not carving the pillar according to the design and as a penalty his face was carved in the pillar to keep on gazing at his apprentice's work forever.
Musical Boxes: There are as many as 213 cubes poking out of the pillars and arches of the chapel. These cubes are also called musical boxes because of strange carvings or musical notes on them. These carvings have always been a matter of attention for cryptographs from all over the world and are said to contain secret messages but no one has yet been able to decipher the codes.
Green Men:There are as many as 110 carvings of human faces in the chapel with greenery all around them. Interestingly these faces are younger on east side of the chapel and start growing older when moving westwards.
Wheat Plant & Crypt: According to a theory, Henry St Clair had travelled to America about a hundred years before Columbus. The theory is based on the fact that there are carvings of Wheat plant, which was unknown in Europe at the time the chapel was built. There is also a crypt (sealed and inaccessible since centuries) hidden somewhere in the chapel,which leads downstairs to the burial place of several generations of St Clair family. Many consider the hidden crypt to be the vault containing the Holy Grail.
No matter whether you are history and cryptograms enthusiast or not, The Rosslyn Chapel is a very worthwhile place to visit.If you are looking for a place to stay, there is a wide variety of Castle Apartments available in Edinburgh. Castle Apartments Edinburgh are famous for ideal accommodation and are loaded with all basic amnesties of life. Dragon Apartments Ltd. specializes in providing Castle Apartments in Edinburgh in affordable rate-sand yet with high level of luxury.We have a 1 to 3 bedroom Castle Apartments in Edinburgh to suit the needs of both small and large groups of travelers.
Martin Wynn
