"Holy Island of Lindisfarne" a Lindisfarne Travel Page by sandysmith

Returning from our Venice trip in 2005 we were staying in Leeds overnight with family. We had planned to go to the Lake District but made a switch to the other side of the country and headed up to Northumberland. Several TV programmes had featured Lindisfarne (55 degrees North was one) and it rekindled my interest in visiting here. and in Leeds we were a lot nearer to this destination than from our home so a quick trawl through the Lindisfarne web site and we had checked the tide tides and booked a nights B&B and off we set the following morning.

It was on this so-named Holy Island of Lindisfarne that the monk St. Aidan founded a monastery that became a major center of Christianity, learning and artistry, as exemplified by the Lindisfarne Gospels. The monastery had sixteen bishops in all, the most renowned being St Cuthbert, who traveled widely spreading the Gospel and performing healing miracles. After his death the island became a place of pilgrimage, until the monks abandoned the island in fear of marauding Vikings. Today it is still a place of pilgrimage and retreat and a popular destination for a day visit in Northumberland with its castle on a volcano and priory ruins.