Regional sacred-site guide
Sacred sites in Scotland
Explore 134 sacred places in Scotland, United Kingdom, with a regional map and links to detailed site guides.
Explore Scotland, United Kingdom by facet
Traditions
Showing 49-96 of 134 sites in this regional guide
Dunchraigaig Cairn
Kilmartin, Scotland, United Kingdom
In one of Scotland's most concentrated sacred landscapes, Dunchraigaig Cairn has held the dead for four thousand years....
Dunfermline Abbey
Dunfermline, Scotland, United Kingdom
Dunfermline Abbey is a nationally or regionally important monastic place in Scotland. Dunfermline Abbey is interpreted here through Christian monastic tradition....
Dunkeld Cathedral
Dunkeld, Scotland, United Kingdom
Dunkeld Cathedral is a nationally or regionally important cathedral place in Scotland....
Dwarfie Stane (Dwarf's Stone)
Hoy, Scotland, United Kingdom
In a steep-sided valley on the island of Hoy, a massive block of red sandstone lies in desolate peatland....
Edinburgh Central Mosque
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Edinburgh Central Mosque is a nationally or regionally important multi-faith place in Scotland. Edinburgh Central Mosque is interpreted here through Islam....
Eshaness Broch
Hillswick, Scotland, United Kingdom
On a promontory in the Loch of Houlland, reached by stone causeways across the water, the Broch of Houlland rises to four metres against the sky of northwest Shetland....
Fingal’s Cave, Island of Staffa, Scotland
Staffa Island, Scotland, United Kingdom
On the uninhabited island of Staffa, a sea cave lined with hexagonal basalt columns has drawn pilgrims for over two centuries....
Fortingall Yew Tree and Church, Perthshire, Scotland
Fortingall, Scotland, United Kingdom
In a small churchyard at the mouth of Scotland's longest glen stands a yew tree that may have been ancient when the pyramids were young....
Giants' Graves
Whiting Bay, Scotland, United Kingdom
On the eastern slopes of the Isle of Arran, above the village of Whiting Bay, two Neolithic chambered cairns stand in a clearing among the trees....
Glasgow Cathedral
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Glasgow Cathedral belongs among the significant cathedral places of Scotland. The sacred frame at Glasgow Cathedral comes from Anglican or historic Western Christian...
Glebe Cairn
Kilmartin, Scotland, United Kingdom
Glebe Cairn marks the northern entrance to Kilmartin Glen's linear cemetery, a two-kilometre alignment of burial monuments built and rebuilt across fifteen centuries....
Healabhal Mhor, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Dunvegan, Scotland, United Kingdom
On the Duirinish peninsula of Skye, Healabhal Mhor rises with a summit so flat it resembles a natural altar open to the sky....
Hill o' Many Stanes
Lybster, Scotland, United Kingdom
On a low hill near the village of Mid Clyth in Caithness, approximately two hundred small standing stones are arranged in twenty-two rows that fan outward as they run down...
Hill of the Angels
Iona, Scotland, United Kingdom
A smooth grass-covered knoll rises from the flat central plain of Iona, the island Columba chose for his monastery in 563....
Iona Abbey
Isle of Iona, Scotland, United Kingdom
Iona Abbey stands on a small Hebridean island where St Columba founded a monastery in AD 563....
Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse Settlement
Sumburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
At the southern tip of Mainland Shetland, where the land narrows to a low promontory above the sea, the ruins of Jarlshof spread across a headland that humans have called...
Jedburgh Abbey
Jedburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Jedburgh Abbey is a nationally or regionally important monastic place in Scotland. Jedburgh Abbey is interpreted here through Christian monastic tradition....
Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery
Eskdalemuir, Scotland, United Kingdom
Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery stands in Scotland as a major multi-faith site. At Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery, Buddhism provides the public sacred context....
Kilmartin Glen
Kilmartin, Scotland, United Kingdom
Kilmartin Glen belongs among the significant prehistoric places of Scotland. The sacred frame at Kilmartin Glen comes from Prehistoric ritual and funerary traditions....
Kilmichael Glassary Cup and Ring Marks
Lochgilphead, Scotland, United Kingdom
On a sloping rock outcrop beside a village school in Argyll, over one hundred and fifty carvings wait in the stone....
Kilphedir Broch
Kilphedir, Scotland, United Kingdom
High on a hillock above the Strath of Kildonan in Sutherland, a broch of pink granite commands views up and down the valley....
Kinnell stone circle, Killin
Killin, Scotland, United Kingdom
In a quiet pasture east of Killin village, six standing stones have held their positions for perhaps four thousand years....
Knap of Howar
Papa Westray, Scotland, United Kingdom
On the western shore of Papa Westray, one of Orkney's smallest inhabited islands, two stone buildings stand with their doorways facing the sea....
Knowe of Lairo
Rousay, Scotland, United Kingdom
On the southwestern hillside of Rousay, overlooking Eynhallow Sound and the tidal island whose Norse name means Holy Island, the Knowe of Lairo stretches over forty-five...
Knowe of Yarso
Rousay, Scotland, United Kingdom
High on a hillside above Eynhallow Sound, the Knowe of Yarso commands views that stretch across the water to Mainland Orkney and the hills beyond....
Loanhead of Daviot stone circle
Daviot, Scotland, United Kingdom
Loanhead of Daviot stone circle stands in Scotland as a major prehistoric site. At loanhead daviot circle, Prehistoric ritual and funerary traditions provides the public...
Loch Ness
Scotland, United Kingdom
Loch Ness fills a long reach of Scotland’s Great Glen, bordered by forests, settlements, paths, and Urquhart Castle....
Lund Standing Stone
Baltasound, Scotland, United Kingdom
On the low moorland of southwest Unst, the most northerly inhabited island in the British Isles, a massive gneiss boulder stands roughly 3.8 metres tall with a girth...
Machrie Moor Stone Circles
Machrie, Scotland, United Kingdom
On the western coast of the Isle of Arran, a walk of a mile and a half across open moorland brings you to six stone circles arranged on a broad, flat expanse beneath the...
MacLean's Cross
Iona, Scotland, United Kingdom
MacLean's Cross stands where three medieval paths once met on the Isle of Iona, between the nunnery and the abbey....
Macleod's Stone
Tarbert, Scotland, United Kingdom
On a small hillock above Traigh Iar beach on the west coast of Harris, a single standing stone has held its ground for approximately five thousand years....
Maeshowe Chambered Cairn
Stenness, Scotland, United Kingdom
On Mainland Orkney, a grass-covered mound rises seven metres above a surrounding ditch....
Melrose Abbey
Melrose, Scotland, United Kingdom
Melrose Abbey belongs among the significant monastic places of Scotland. The sacred frame at Melrose Abbey comes from Christian monastic tradition....
Midhowe Broch
Rousay, Scotland, United Kingdom
On the western coast of Rousay, where two steep gullies cut into the shoreline, a broch stands within its own small settlement....
Midhowe Chambered Cairn
Rousay, Scotland, United Kingdom
On the western shore of Rousay, sheltered beneath a modern protective roof, lies the largest stalled cairn in Orkney....
Mor Stein
Shapinsay, Scotland, United Kingdom
On the southeastern shore of Shapinsay, one of the inner Orkney Islands, a single standing stone rises roughly ten feet from the turf....
Moss Farm Road Stone Circle
Machrie, Scotland, United Kingdom
On the western shore of the Isle of Arran, where a farm track leads into the ancient ceremonial moorland of Machrie, seven stones still stand in a broken ring....
Mount Schiehallion, Scotland
Aberfeldy, Scotland, United Kingdom
Rising like a sentinel at the heart of Scotland, Schiehallion carries one of the most evocative names in Gaelic geography: Sidh Chailleann, the Fairy Hill of the...
Mt. Beinn-na-Greine, Portree, Scotland
Portree, Scotland, United Kingdom
On the Isle of Skye, a modest peak carries an ancient name: Beinn na Greine, Mountain of the Sun....
Ness of Brodgar
Stenness, Scotland, United Kingdom
On the narrow isthmus between two lochs on Mainland Orkney, the Ness of Brodgar lies at the centre of a Neolithic world....
Nether Largie Mid Cairn
Kilmartin, Scotland, United Kingdom
Nether Largie Mid Cairn stands at the heart of Kilmartin Glen's linear cemetery, a two-kilometer procession of burial monuments stretching across the floor of one of...
Nether Largie North Cairn
Kilmartin, Scotland, United Kingdom
Nether Largie North Cairn stands second in a line of five burial monuments stretching through Kilmartin Glen in Argyll, Scotland....
Nether Largie South Cairn
Kilmartin, Scotland, United Kingdom
In the heart of Kilmartin Glen, Nether Largie South Cairn has held its ground for more than five thousand years....
Nether Largie standing stones, Argyll, Scotland
Kilmartin, Scotland, United Kingdom
Five massive stones stand in an X-shaped pattern at the heart of Kilmartin Glen, mainland Scotland's richest prehistoric landscape....
Old Scatness Broch and Iron Age Village
Virkie, Scotland, United Kingdom
In 1975, construction workers building a road to Sumburgh Airport cut through what appeared to be a natural grassy mound at the southern tip of Mainland Shetland....
Ousdale Broch
Helmsdale, Scotland, United Kingdom
In a sheltered valley where the Ousdale Burn cuts toward the sea, between the villages of Helmsdale and Berriedale on the Caithness-Sutherland border, a broch stands that...
Paisley Abbey
Paisley, Scotland, United Kingdom
Paisley Abbey stands in Scotland as a major living Christian site. At Paisley Abbey, Anglican or historic Western Christian tradition provides the public sacred context....
Pluscarden Abbey
Pluscarden, Scotland, United Kingdom
Pluscarden Abbey is a nationally or regionally important monastic place in Scotland. Pluscarden Abbey is interpreted here through Christian monastic tradition....
Showing 49-96 of 134 sites
Key questions
Scotland sacred-site questions
How many sacred sites are listed in Scotland?
This regional guide currently includes 134 sacred sites in Scotland, United Kingdom.
Which traditions are represented in Scotland?
The most represented traditions in the current guide include Celtic and Prehistoric, Christianity, Anglican or historic Western Christian tradition, Christian monastic tradition, Prehistoric ritual and funerary traditions, Christian pilgrimage tradition, Buddhism, Gaelic Folklore / Christian Heritage.
Can I view Scotland sacred sites on a map?
Yes. Switch to map view to compare the listed places, then open a site page for coordinates and visiting context.