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Home , Birsay, Brough of Birsay, Deerness, Egilsay, Flotta, Gairsay

NORTH PAPA RONALDSAY

WESTRAY

SANDAY

ROUSAY OUTLINE

1 AN EARLY POWER CENTRE AND PLACE OF 1 PILGRIMAGE WYRE 2 PART OF AN ANCIENT WEST LANDSCAPE, SHELTER FOR MAINLAND VIKING CRUSADERS AND VIKING ITINERARY AN ASSEMBLY-PLACE FOR LAW AND GOVERNMENT

3 A TIME OF AN EARL’S HALL AND 2 5 FARM, AND A ROUND CHURCH INSPIRED BY Welcome to Viking . One thousand years ago, A TRIP TO JERUSALEM 4 Orkney was not part of the Scottish kingdom, and even EAST today the Viking legacy lives on in many local place names. 4 3 MAINLAND A VIKING ESTATE AND Such was Orkney’s importance as the heart of a powerful CLIFFTOP VANTAGE Viking Earldom, the history of the earls of Orkney was POINT IN TIMES OF SEA-BATTLES told in its own chronicle – the . KIRKWALL Follow this itinerary to get a glimpse of a time of sagas. 5 VIKING CAPITAL AND RESTING PLACE OF TWO SAINTS

SOUTH LONGHOPE RONALDSAY

Longship at Orkneyinga Saga Centre Inside Maeshowe

SEE MORE WEEKEND ITINERARIES AND SPECIAL OFFERS AT VISITORKNEY.COM/WEEKEND 1 BIRSAY and incised drawings, the best known of Park in the Mull Head car park and you OTHER PLACES TO VISIT IF YOUR which is the so-called Maeshowe Dragon. can walk along scenic windswept cliffs We can only imagine how the Pictish YOU HAVE MORE TIME to the Brough of Deerness, a peninsula ITINERARY inhabitants of Orkney felt when the first Maeshowe is in the custody of Historic There is lots to see and do in accessible by a narrow path and steps Viking ships began to appear in the 8th Environment and is open every every corner of Orkney whatever hugging the side of the cliff. Be careful century. By the end of the 9th century the day for guided tours only. Spaces are the season; the quieter months going up and down, especially in wet Viking takeover was complete and Birsay limited and you should book online well are the ideal time to sightsee at weather. On the top of the Brough AUTUMN/WINTER had probably become the principal power in advance. a slower pace. If you have time there are the outlines of up to 30 Viking centre of the new earldom. The most to explore further, leaflets and buildings, a defensive wall, a well and a TIME: 1 DAY’S TOURING powerful of Orkney's rulers - Earl Thorfinn THE EARL’S BU AND guide books will guide you to 3 chapel which was first used in Pictish times. DISTANCE: 55 MILES the Mighty (c1009-c1065) had his seat many more sites throughout ROUND CHURCH, ORPHIR Displays in the Mull Head Nature Reserve here, either on the called the these Viking islands. There are Overlooking ’s sheltered visitor centre (open year round) help make Brough of Birsay or in what is now Palace good ferry and air connections waters lie the fragmentary remains of sense of the overgrown remains. village. in the village VIKING ITINERARY St Magnus Church an Earl’s Bu – a hall and farm - a small to the outer islands where there stands on the site of the earliest is a lot of evidence of Viking part of a much larger high-status Viking 5 KIRKWALL in Orkney. settlement still buried underground. settlement, some of it named in Kirkjuvagr, church bay, as the At low tide, walk along the wonderful There is an excellent artist’s impression the sagas. knew it, was probably a minor settlement beach and take the causeway to the of the site in the Orkney Museum, If you are a keen walker, the until Earl Rognvald Brusason, who briefly Brough. Wander amongst the remains Kirkwall. The Bu features in the St Magnus Way is a 55 mile shared the Earldom with Thorfinn the of Viking houses, barns, a church and Orkneyinga Saga as the location of the pilgrimage trail through the Mighty, took up residence here in the early monastery and even a sauna. Historic murder of Sweyn Breastrope by the West Mainland. 11th century and built St Olaf’s Church Environment Scotland’s small visitor centre notorious Sweyn Asliefsson amidst on land extending behind what is now is closed between 1 October and mid-June accusations of unfair drinking. but the site is always open. Do make sure Shore Street. It was here that the body of The adjacent ruinous Round Church to check tide times before visiting. one of Orkney’s two saints, Saint Magnus FINDING OUT MORE is thought to have been modelled on (1080-1115) was brought from its first the rotunda of the Church of the Holy Local bookshops have a good selection 2 MAESHOWE resting place in Birsay. The Church was Sepulchre in Jerusalem, another indication rebuilt several times over the centuries of new and classic books about the The chambered tomb of Maeshowe in of just how well-travelled the Vikings were. but all that remains today is a 16th century Vikings and Viking Orkney, including , part of the Heart of The Orkneyinga Saga Centre is open gateway in St Olaf’s Wynd. translations of The Orkneyinga Saga. Orkney World Heritage Site, is one of the daily from April to September and at Kirkwall grew in importance and when treasures of Stone Age Orkney. By the other times by arrangement. Contact the St Magnus’s nephew Rognvald Kali time of the Vikings it was already 4,000 Our one day itineraries are Kirkwall iCentre for more information. Kolsson (c1103-1158) became Earl in years old but still a place of reverence. In 1136 he decided to build a cathedral to designed to give you a taste the mid 1100s groups of Viking crusaders 4 DEERNESS commemorate his uncle. Construction of Orkney. We hope that your took shelter in the tomb, whiling away began the following year but Earl short break will inspire you to the time by carving runes on the walls. Deerness on the eastern coast of the Rognvald, a crusader and poet, died come back for a longer stay The runes form one of the largest such Mainland was another important Viking in 1158 and never saw the cathedral collections in Europe and include ribald estate, probably home to Thorkel Fostri, and further explore Orkney. completed. He was canonised in 1192. graffiti, the legend of a lost treasure, Earl Thorfinn’s foster-father. The bones of Orkney’s two saints are interred in matching pillars in the magnificent sandstoneSt Magnus STAY IN TOUCH Cathedral. Nearby Orkney Museum is open every @visitorkney Monday to Saturday and tells the story of Orkney and the development of Kirkwall /orkneycom from its humble beginnings. F Perhaps the simplest yet most important @orkneycom Viking treasure in the museum is the L wooden reliquary in which the bones of St Magnus were placed in the cathedral @orkneycom which bears his name.

St Magnus Cathedral Round Kirk

SEE MORE WEEKEND ITINERARIES AND SPECIAL OFFERS AT VISITORKNEY.COM/WEEKEND