The Hidden Blueprint in Rosslyn Chapel’s Window of Wonder
Located on a picturesque hilltop six miles south of Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh, is one of the world’s most mysterious and misunderstood buildings - Rosslyn Chapel. This tiny Scottish church came under the world’s spotlight after Dan Brown’s 2003 thriller The Da Vinci Code connected it with the mystery of the Holy Grail. If the word ‘Grail’ means much more than a chalice that allegedly captured the blood of Christ, or a holy blood lineage, and refers more to ‘lost ancient knowledge’, then it is indeed hidden within the walls of Rosslyn Chapel.
An interior view showing the Apprentice Pillar and ornate carvings by Roger Griffith - Heaths Picturesque Annual (1835) (Public Domain)
Medieval Church Architecture
Founded in September 1446 AD by Sir William St Clair, Third Earl of Orkney, construction at Rosslyn ceased upon the death of its founder in 1484 and it was never completed. The building seen today is the choir of what was intended to be a much larger collegiate church designed to be cruciform in shape. The east gable wall features the largest arched window within the building and its highly detailed stone tracery and stained-glass inlays are Victorian additions.
