St Magnus Cathedral

St Magnus Cathedral tickets: which one to buy

Saint Magnus Cathedral stands in the centre of Kirkwall, the main town of the Orkney Islands, and entry to the cathedral is free, with donations welcome. Guided tours of the upper levels, which take small groups up narrow stairs into the triforium, the clerestory and the tower, are offered on certain days for a fee and must be booked in advance; they are the best way to see the building. The cathedral is owned by the people of Kirkwall rather than by a church, which is unusual.

Tours of Orkney combine the cathedral with the Bishop's and Earl's Palaces opposite, the Neolithic village of Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar and the Italian Chapel. Cruise ships call at Kirkwall in summer, and the cathedral can be busy then. It is an active place of worship for the Church of Scotland. Ferries to Orkney run from Scrabster and Aberdeen, and flights connect Kirkwall with mainland Scottish airports.

Visiting St Magnus Cathedral: what to see

The cathedral was founded in 1137 by Earl Rognvald Kali, a Norse ruler of Orkney, in honour of his uncle, Earl Magnus Erlendsson, who was murdered on the island of Egilsay around 1117 and venerated as a saint. Orkney was then part of the Norwegian kingdom, and the cathedral is the most northerly cathedral in the United Kingdom. It is built of red and yellow sandstone, which gives it a warm, striped appearance, in a Romanesque style influenced by Durham Cathedral, with later Gothic additions. Inside, the nave is lined with massive round pillars.

The remains of Saint Magnus, with a skull bearing an axe wound, were found in a pillar during restoration in 1919, and they are still kept there. The cathedral holds memorials, including one to the explorer John Rae, and gravestones carved with skulls and inscriptions reminding visitors of death. The upper level tours lead to the old prison cell called Marwick's Hole, where offenders were once held, and to the clock mechanism in the tower. From the tower, visitors look down on the red roofs of Kirkwall and across to Scapa Flow. The bells of the tower include some cast in the sixteenth century. A memorial to the HMS Royal Oak, sunk in Scapa Flow in 1939, holds the ship's bell.

St Magnus Cathedral opening hours and the best time to go

The cathedral is open daily, with shorter hours on Sundays. The upper level tours run on certain days from spring to autumn. Orkney has long summer days and short winter days, with wind and rain common all year. The Saint Magnus International Festival in June brings music and arts events, with concerts in the cathedral.

The Ba' game, a mass street football match, is played in front of the cathedral on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Allow about forty-five minutes for the cathedral, or longer with an upper level tour, and visit the palaces across the street. The Orkney Museum, in a sixteenth-century merchant's house opposite the cathedral, is free and covers the islands' history from the Stone Age.