The Italian Chapel - Orkney Islands
f/10.0 1/250 sec 18.0 mm ISO 100
The Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm in Orkney, Scotland stands as a memorial to Italian prisoners of war captured in northern Africa during World War II.
The Orkney Islands form a large natural harbor known as Scapa Flow. Because of its size and remote location, the harbor has housed British fleets during both world wars. At the east end. scrap ships, blockships, were sunk to block the entry points from the North Sea. However, at the beginning of World War II, a German submarine, U-47, successfully navigated past the blockship barrier and sank the British battleship HMS Royal Oak. Afterwards, Winston Churchill ordered a series of causeways, the Churchill Barriers, to be constructed blocking the eastern entry to Scapa Flow. The Italian POWs provided the labor to build the barriers.
The rusting hulls of tthe blockships can still be seen from the causeway.
f/5.6 1/250 sec 135.0 mm ISO 100
The POWs were allowed to construct a small chapel from whatever scrap material was available. The building was formed by 2 Nissen huts joined together and the altar was made from leftover concrete used for the causeways.
f/3.5 1/40 sec 18.0 mm ISO 250
f/3.5 1/40 sec 18.0 mm ISO 250
Category | Italian Chapel |
Settings | various |
Camera | Canon 60D |
Lens | Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/4-5.6 IS |
Location | Orkney, Scotland |
This is entry #12 in #SteemBloPoMo challenge by our friend @traciyork

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Enjoy!
Roger




Ha, I saw a TV programme about this recently, how awesome that you've just been there yourself! Really interesting story about how it all came about, thanks for sharing this. I think my parents even went there last year too :)
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The Orkneys are worth the trip! There is so much history there much of it dates back thousands of years!
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That is quite a story there about the chapel. The chapel looks really beautiful in spite of the limited materials from scraps. It looks small outside but looks bigger on the inside.
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You are right! The people walking in give a good perspective on its size. The artwork on the inside is amazing.
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Congratulations, Your Post Has Been Added To The Steemit Worldmap!
Author link: http://steemitworldmap.com?author=rwedegis
Post link: http://steemitworldmap.com?post=the-italian-chapel-orkney-islands
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What a cool story and some great photos too @rwedegis excellent work. 👍
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