Chapels · Scottish Islands
Italian Chapel
Italian Chapel — chapel in the Orkney islands built by Italian prisoners of war.
Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence
Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 20 min–45 min
- Free entry
- Family-friendly
- Wheelchair accessible
About
Italian Chapel is a chapel in the United Kingdom. Records date its origin to 1945. Heritage designation: category A listed building. Affiliated with Catholicism. Wikidata describes it as: "chapel in the Orkney islands built by Italian prisoners of war". Coordinates: 58.8899°, -2.8896°.
Photo gallery
From the Wikipedia article
The Italian Chapel is a highly ornate Catholic chapel on Lamb Holm in Orkney, Scotland. It was built during the Second World War by Italian prisoners of war, who were housed on the previously uninhabited island while they constructed the Churchill Barriers to the east of Scapa Flow. Only the concrete foundations of the other buildings of the prisoner-of-war camp survive. The chapel was not completed until after the end of the war, and was restored in the 1960s and again in the 1990s. It is a popular tourist attraction, and a Category A listed building. It is in the Roman Catholic Parish of Our Lady & St Joseph in Orkney, part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen. Mass is held in the chapel on the first Sunday of the summer months (April–September).
Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.
Background
Architecture
550 Italian prisoners of war, captured in North Africa during the Second World War, were brought to Orkney in 1942. They worked on the construction of the Churchill Barriers, four causeways created to block sea access to Scapa Flow. 200 were based at Camp 60 on Lamb Holm. He painted the sanctuary end of the chapel and fellow prisoners decorated the entire interior. They created a facade out of concrete, concealing the shape of the hut and making the building look like a church. The light holders were made out of corned beef tins. The baptismal font was made from the inside of a car exhaust covered in a layer of concrete. When his fellow prisoners were released shortly before the end of the…
Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates
- 58.8899, -2.8896
- District
- Orkney Islands
- Postcode
- KW17 2SF
- Parliamentary constituency
- Orkney and Shetland
- Established
- 1945
Sources
- wikidata: Q2545493 (CC0)
- wikipedia: Italian Chapel (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- commons: Italian Chapel - Lamb Holm - Orkney - kingsley - 29-JUN-09.JPG (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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The Italian Chapel
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Frequently asked questions
- Where is Italian Chapel?
- Italian Chapel is in the Scottish Islands, United Kingdom (postcode KW17 2SF).
- When was Italian Chapel built?
- Built or established in 1945.
- Is Italian Chapel a listed building?
- Italian Chapel is officially recognised as category A listed building listed.
- Is Italian Chapel free to visit?
- Yes, Italian Chapel is free to enter.
- How do I get to Italian Chapel?
- Drivers can navigate to postcode KW17 2SF. It sits within the Orkney and Shetland parliamentary constituency.