Visitor numbers to historic Rosslyn Chapel double thanks to Da Vinci Code

by E-NewsCast Team
September 30th, 2009

According to the Scotsman Newspaper of Wednesday January 4th,visitors to the historic Rosslyn Chapel, situated 7 miles southof the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, have almost doubled in thepast year. This increase in interest has been due to Dan Brown’sbest selling novel the “Da Vinci Code”. , Brown’s book wasfirst published . in early 2004 and has since sold more than17,000,000 copies worldwide. The subsequent and eagerly awaitedfilm of the book directed by Ron Howard and starring Hollywoodmega box office name Tom Hanks is scheduled to hit your screensin May of this year. The film crews have already completedfilming in the nearby village of Rosslin. They in fact did itlast summer, but the numbers of visitors will be swelled oncemore by the movie which is sure to be a blockbuster.Some claim Rosslyn Chapel to be one of the most mysteriousplaces in Scotland which has more than its fair share of mistshrouded castles and haunted houses. The Chapel was built by SirWilliam St. Clair, the Prince of Orkney in 1446. This tapestryin stone is a construction which seems by its dimension to havebeen intended to be much larger than it is. Rosslyn Chapelprovides the backdrop for the conclusion of Brown’s novelbecause of its connection to the Knight’s Templar. This order,founded in 1118, which was shortly after the First Crusade. Theprincipal function of this order of Knights was to defend theholy city of Jerusalem. However, some believe that the KnightsTemplar had an even more important function and that was to actas guardians of the Holy Grail.History tells us that these knights were wiped out in 1307, whenthey were arrested to a man on a charge of heresy and put to thesword. The real reason for this extermination was attached moreto the secular rather than the spiritual world. The order ofknights had grown extremely rich as a result of their crusadingduties and had started offering banking services to the wealthyof Europe. King Philip IV of France had asked the knights for aloan to finance his wars, but they thought him a bad risk andrefuse. This was a very bad decision as Philip the Fair,insulated and angry decided to wreak his revenge. This he did,with Papal help as the Pope had just recently moved to Avignon.The Knights were destroyed and Philip enriched himself byseizing their lands and assets. Clearly the business of bankingwas a dangerous affair in those far off days. Dan Brown’s bookcontends that the Knights were not completely destroyed andsurvive to this day. I wonder if he is right.Interested in this subject? Try this link for more of the same

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