Iona — Columba's Secret Codicil

Your journey in Iona begins at Martyr's Bay, on the east coast. This site, approximately 500m northeast of the Abbey, was the scene of a massacre in 1540, where 36 monks and laymen were killed by English soldiers during the Scottish Reformation. A modern cross, erected in 1980, commemorates this tragic event. Here, the first puzzles unfold, immediately immersing you in the religious tensions and conflicts that marked the history of Iona Island. Augmented reality clues show you ships approaching the bay, and the faces of the monks whose relics were scattered.

Iona Abbey, founded in 563 AD by Saint Columba as a monastic settlement, is your next stop. Reconstructed in the 12th and 13th centuries, with the church dating from approximately 1200-1220, it housed Saint Columba's relics until their removal in 849 during Viking raids. As a Historic Environment Scotland scheduled monument, Iona Abbey is a key location for understanding the spread of Christianity in Scotland. You will explore its walls, cloisters, and architecture, searching for clues that Saint Columba might have hidden there. Augmented reality projections will show you monks in prayer.

Immediately north of Iona Abbey church stands St Martin's Cross, an 8th-century Celtic high cross, standing 5.18m tall. Carved around 750-800 AD, it features biblical scenes, including the Virgin and Child on its east face. It is one of only two complete high crosses on Iona to have survived the 9th-century Viking destructions, restored in 1953 by the Iona Community. Its intricate interlace patterns and well-preserved condition make it a valuable testament to insular Christian art. The app reveals the details of the carvings, allowing you to decipher the hidden symbols of the codicil.

Your path then leads you to the fragment of St John's Cross, another 9th-century high cross, whose 1.52m base is displayed in the Iona Abbey museum. Originally standing near the abbey, it was shattered by storms or iconoclasm around the 11th century and reconstructed in 1956. Not far, the Iona Nunnery, founded around 1230 by Reginald, son of Somerled, covers 0.1 hectares and was abandoned after the Reformation in 1561. These sites, though distinct, are intertwined in Iona's history, testifying to the island's religious and political evolution. AR clues will help you reassemble the fragments of a complex past.

Finally, you will reach Reilig Òdhrain, an ancient burial ground dating from the 7th century, located 100m west of Iona Abbey. It is the traditional resting place of Saint Columba, who died here on June 9, 597 AD. The site contains early Christian grave slabs from the 8th and 9th centuries, as well as St Oran's Chapel built around 1150. Excavations in 2021 revealed Viking-age burials overlying earlier Celtic graves. Your investigation into Saint Columba's codicil will conclude here, at the heart of this historic site, a UNESCO tentative list candidate, where the history of Iona and its 48 buried Scottish kings takes on its full meaning.