ROSLIN, Scotland -- There's no mystical rose line running through it, no star of David carved into the floor or hidden vault where the fabled Holy Grail may rest. And the brutal veil of metal scaffolding shrouding the chapel doesn't help either.
Reality at Rosslyn Chapel is very different from the portrayal in Dan Brown's hit thriller "The Da Vinci Code," but the novel has been a welcome boost for a church in desperate need of repair.
The book suggests the medieval stone building perched in a gentle fold of the Pentland Hills outside Edinburgh could be the repository of the fabled Holy Grail -- and with it the secret of whether Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene founded a dynasty.
Many visitors, although drawn by the novel, are skeptical of its theories.
"I loved the book, but at no time did I come here thinking I should look for the Holy Grail," Chicago psychologist Margaret Silberman said as she emerged into the chapel's blossom-splashed garden.
"It didn't disappoint me that it's not just as Brown described -- it's fiction, after all."
Myra Pruitt from Atlanta also didn't support Mr. Brown's theories, "but even without that, this is a spiritual, fascinating place," she said.
Rosslyn hosted 117,000 visitors in 2005 -- more than three times the number three years ago -- and another 145,000 are expected this year, according to church director Stuart Beattie.
Hoping to swell those visitor numbers, VisitScotland, the official tourist agency, has invested $54,000 on a DVD, "The Rosslyn Enigma," which it is using to promote the destination in North America.
After "The Da Vinci Code"'s international release this month, "I guess more people will come, but the rush is already with us," Mr. Beattie said.
Guides inform visitors that the chapel, which was built in the shape of a cross, was founded in 1446 by Sir William St. Clair, a grand master in the Knights Templar, an order of benevolent knights founded in the 12th century.
The chapel is probably just the back end of what was conceived as a much grander building, but Rosslyn is famed for its profuse and exuberant -- some would say over-the-top -- decoration.
Source: http://washingtontimes.com/travel/20060 ... -5630r.htm
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