Extended Travel: Rosslyn, Scotland

Ever since 2003 when Dan Brown published his international sensation The Da Vinci Code, fans and conspiracy theorist have been flocking to Rosslyn Chapel outside of Edinburgh, Scotland. The chapel plays a pivotal role in the book and the film starring Tom Hanks, which came out in 2006 and since then, tourism to the site has risen by 56% making it one of the most visited places in Scotland.
 
Rosslyn Chapel, originally named the Collegiate Chapel of St. Matthew, is a 15th-century church in the village of Roslin, seven miles from Edinburgh. The chapels intricate and sometimes mysteries carvings have led to many rumors about the true purpose of the builders. Many associated the chapel with the Freemason and The Knights Templar. Some of these carvings are called the ‘musical’ boxes, a series of intricate carvings in a sequence of 213 cubes or boxes protruding from pillars and arches with a selection of patterns on them.

Rumors also abound about the chapel’s crypt, a subterranean vault which has been said to contain any one of the following: the mummified head of Jesus Christ, the Holy Grail, the treasure of the Templars, or the original crown jewels of Scotland.
 
Though many fasilites abound in Brown’s The Da Vinci code about the chapel, such as “Rosslyn” is a form of the term Rose Line, and that a line starting in France also runs through the Chapel but which scholars point out that the name “Rosslyn” is most likely derived from two Celtic words: “ros”, meaning promontory or point, and “lyn”, meaning waterfall, it is a fascinating place to spend a day at away from Edinburgh.
 
Access: The LRT Number 15 bus comes into Roslin seven days a week from Edinburgh. The journey time is approx 30 mins. The Bus travels along Princes Street in Edinburgh, up Lothian Road and then out through Bruntsfield.
 
Rosslyn Chapel
Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9PU, United Kingdom‎ – 0131 440 2155‎

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