Iona Abbey

One of the most important Christian sites in the British Isles, founded by St Columba and still a major international pilgrimage destination. The site is in Isle of Iona, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. St Columba and his companions established a monastery on Iona in 563.

The island’s monastic community influenced Christianity across Scotland and northern Britain. Columba and twelve companions founded a monastery on Iona in 563, and the island became a major centre of learning, missionary activity and Christian art. Historic Environment Scotland notes centuries of pilgrimage and the survival of a shrine associated with St Columba.

The Book of Kells is also widely connected with the Iona monastic community before its later history in Ireland. The rebuilt abbey remains both a heritage monument and a living destination for worship, retreat and pilgrimage. The island’s association with Columba, saintly burials and centuries of pilgrimage forms a central part of its continuing sacred identity.