Overview of Iona

A small windswept island of the Inner Hebrides, Iona lies off the Ross of Mull from which it is separated by the narrow Sound of Iona. With an area of 873 ha (2157 acres) it rises to a height of 100m (328 feet) at Dun I. Much of the island comprises Lewisian gneiss which includes the famous Iona Marble that was quarried on the south coast. Inhabited during the Iron Age, the island is especially associated with the Irish monk Colum Cille or Columba who landed here in 563 AD and established a monastery that became a centre of learning and a site of pilgrimage famous throughout the world. The celebrated Book of Kells was probable written on Iona at the same time as a group of High Crosses were created. A Benedictine abbey of pink granite was founded at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries by Somerled. The seat of the bishopric of the Isles, this structure was largely rebuilt in the 1500s. Now in the care of the Iona Cathedral Trust, the abbey was restored by the Church of Scotland in the early 20th century and later maintained by the Iona Community which was founded by the Rev. George Macleod. Other buildings of interest include St. Oran's Chapel and the Nunnery of St. Mary. The village of Baile Mor on St. Ronan's Bay faces the Sound of Iona and has a pier which handles ferries bringing over half a million visitors each year. There is a regular passenger ferry service from Fionnphort on Mull.