Earl Patrick Stewart's roofless Renaissance palace of the early 1600s in the centre of Kirkwall, on one ticket with the far older Bishop's Palace beside it.
There's something special about wandering through a palace that has lost its roof, and the Earl's Palace in Kirkwall is counted among the finest Renaissance buildings in Scotland.
Patrick Stewart, Earl of Orkney, built it in the early 1600s, and its turrets, oriel windows and tall chimneys still rise above a green lawn a few steps from St Magnus Cathedral. Climb the wide stone stair to the great hall on the first floor, where one of its two fireplaces is five metres across.
Your ticket takes in the Bishop's Palace beside it too, and that one is far older. It was built in the 1100s, at about the same time as the cathedral, and King Haakon IV of Norway died there in December 1263 on his way home from the Battle of Largs. Look up at its round tower, added by Bishop Robert Reid in the 1500s. Both palaces open daily from April to September, with a half-hour break for lunch.
Round turrets carried out from the walls on rows of corbels, part of the façade that makes this one of the most accomplished Renaissance buildings in Scotland.
Bay windows built out from the wall on the first floor, the floor of the earl's hall and his outer and inner chambers.
Tall stacks for the palace's fires. The rooms of state sat on the first floor, above a service basement that held the kitchen.
Earl Patrick was granted the bishop's palace, the Palace of the Yards, in 1600, and built his own into it. Parts of the older building, a stone-lined well among them, are in its lower walls.
One ticket covers both palaces, which stand beside St Magnus Cathedral.
They open from April to September and close for the winter, and booking online is cheaper than paying on the day.
Haakon IV of Norway died in the Bishop's Palace in December 1263, on his way home after the Battle of Largs. His body lay in state in its hall, then rested for three months in St Magnus Cathedral before it was taken home to Bergen.
The Bishop's Palace was built in the early 1100s, at about the same time as St Magnus Cathedral, and is the only bishop's palace ever built in Norse Scotland. The Earl's Palace went up beside it in the early 1600s.
The Earl's Palace's hall on the first floor, reached by an elaborate staircase, has two great fireplaces, and one of them is five metres across.
Patrick Stewart, Earl of Orkney, ruled Orkney and Shetland from 1592, and he built Scalloway Castle in Shetland as well as this palace. He was executed in Edinburgh in 1615.
New places, news and stories, as we find them.
What is on in OrkneyBeside St Magnus Cathedral in the centre of Kirkwall, on Watergate.
St Magnus CathedralBegun in 1137 for a murdered earl, and still the centre of Kirkwall.Under a mile1 min by road
The Orcadian BookshopThe Orcadian newspaper's bookshop on Albert Street, Kirkwall, for Orkney books, maps and gifts.Under a mile1 min by road
Orkney Wireless MuseumRadio, radar and wartime listening on Scapa Flow, at Kiln Corner.Under a mile1 min by road
Helgi’sA small Viking-themed pub on the Kirkwall harbour front, with home-cooked food and a good run of malts; over 18s only.Under a mile1 min by road
The Orkney DistilleryKirkjuvagr gin, made on the Kirkwall waterfront.Under a mile3 min by road
Highland Park DistilleryOrkney's whisky distillery on the edge of Kirkwall since 1798, with tours, tastings without booking and a shop.1 mile2 min by road
The FoveranA restaurant with rooms three miles from Kirkwall, looking out over Scapa Flow, with Orcadian breakfasts and homemade bannocks.3 miles6 min by road
Sheila Fleet Kirk GalleryA jeweller's gallery and café in a converted Orkney kirk.6 miles12 min by roadEvery photograph commissioned, every word written by somebody who went. Printed twice a year, made in Scotland.
For further reading, before you go.
