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In the graveyard
alongside the abbey of St Orans, contains the burials of the early Kings
of Scotland, the Lords of the Isles. The earliest surviving building of St
Orans Chapel was built by them for their own burials. Iona has an
important place in the history of Christianity in Britain. It began when
St Columba founded Iona's first abbey soon after his arrival from Ireland
in 563. The area enclosed for his monks was later chosen by Reginald, son
of Somerled, the Lord of the Isles to build a Benedictine Abbey here in
about 1200. The abbey buildings were much altered and repaired until
the Reformation and they received a new lease of life in the present
century when the abbey church and buildings were repaired and partly
reconstructed to welcome a new Christian Community and visitors of many
faiths to this remarkable island. |
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