Italian Chapel

Italian Chapel tickets: which one to buy

The Italian Chapel stands alone on the small island of Lamb Holm, connected to the Orkney mainland by the causeways known as the Churchill Barriers, about fifteen minutes by car south of Kirkwall. A small admission fee helps to maintain the building. Most visitors arrive by car or on a coach tour of the islands, which usually combine the chapel with Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, the Standing Stones of Stenness and Kirkwall's cathedral.

Cruise ships calling at Kirkwall bring large groups on excursions in summer, and the chapel is tiny, so it gets crowded quickly when they arrive. Independent visitors can take the local bus that runs across the barriers, though it is infrequent. There is a small car park beside the chapel. Photography is allowed, and a volunteer or custodian is often on hand to explain its story, which is the heart of the visit. A donation box and a small shop selling cards help fund the preservation committee that looks after the chapel.

Visiting Italian Chapel: what to see

During the Second World War, Italian prisoners captured in North Africa were brought to Orkney to build the concrete barriers that closed the eastern approaches to Scapa Flow, after a German submarine had sunk a battleship inside the anchorage. The prisoners lived in Camp 60 on Lamb Holm and asked for a place of worship. In 1943 they were given two corrugated iron Nissen huts, which they joined end to end and transformed with whatever they could find: scrap metal, driftwood, concrete and paint.

Domenico Chiocchetti, a painter from the Dolomites, decorated the interior so that the plain huts look like a vaulted chapel with painted brickwork, windows and carved stone, and painted a Madonna and Child above the altar. Others made a wrought-iron screen, a font from a car exhaust and candle holders from bully-beef tins. A concrete front with a belfry hides the huts. Chiocchetti returned in 1960 to restore his work. A statue of Saint George slaying the dragon stands outside, made by Chiocchetti from barbed wire covered in cement.

Italian Chapel opening hours and the best time to go

The chapel is open all year, with longer hours in summer and shorter ones in winter, when it may close earlier on stormy days. Summer brings cruise passengers, and the chapel can be crowded when a coach arrives, so arriving early in the morning or late in the afternoon gives a better chance to see it quietly. Orkney weather changes quickly, and the causeways are exposed to wind and sea spray. The long light of June evenings is magical on the islands.

Mass is held in the chapel occasionally, and the anniversary of its completion is marked by visits from Italian families connected with the prisoners. Allow about thirty minutes, and stop at the barriers on the way to see the wrecks of ships that were sunk to block the channels before the barriers were built. Kirkwall has the nearest cafes, shops and petrol, so plan supplies before driving south.