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Earl's Palace Kirkwall

Castles

Earl's Palace Kirkwall

Recommended by 138 hikers out of 139

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Location: Kirkwall And St Ola, Orkney islands, Scotland, United Kingdom

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Best Hikes to Earl's Palace Kirkwall

4.5

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1. St Magnus Cathedral – Earl's Palace Kirkwall loop from Kirkwall

6.13km

01:37

50m

Easy hike. Great for any fitness level. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Easy

4.8

(6)

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2. Kirkwall Town Hall – St Magnus Cathedral loop from Kirkwall

8.36km

02:08

30m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

4.5

(23)

126

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3. Earl's Palace Kirkwall – Kirkwall Town Hall loop from Kirkwall

8.80km

02:15

40m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

Tips

Wiro L.

July 11, 2019

The former glory can still be guessed well: The Earl's Palace in Kirkwall on Orkney is beauty and at the same time a lesson about abuse of power, decadence and decay. Because the story behind the current ruin is linked to Patrick Stewart, a greedy and cruel ruler of the island, who wanted to live in this magnificent building.
Directly opposite the cathedral in Kirkwall, the windowless walls of the old palace rise up. The multi-storey building was laid out in an L-shape, and its heart was the 16-meter-long hall with two large fireplaces. The Earl's Palace is still considered one of the most beautiful Renaissance buildings in Scotland. But as wonderful as the building might have been for present and present circumstances, it had the flaw that it had been built by corporal service and oppression.

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Timber

August 10, 2019

The unloved builder of the palace was Earl Patrick Stewart, a greedy and violent ruler of the Orkney and Shetland Islands, who ruled from 1592. He was called "Black Patie" because of his cruelty by the people.
Patrick Stewart could also have just moved to the nearby Bishop's Palace, but this was too old-fashioned and too small, The also quite new palace of his father at Birsay was the young ruler probably too far from Kirkwall. Therefore, Patrick began to build his own magnificent building from about 1600 AD. For this to succeed, the Stewart Earl squeezed every penny out of his subjects and let the inhabitants of Orkney compete in frond services on his construction site.

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Lars

May 18, 2022

The Earl's Palace is a fine example of French Renaissance architecture in Scotland

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Details

Informations

Elevation 60 m

Weather

Today

Monday 20 October

13°C

12°C

100 %

If you start your activity now...

Max wind speed: 36.0 km/h

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Take Me There

Location: Kirkwall And St Ola, Orkney islands, Scotland, United Kingdom

Earl's Palace Kirkwall

1. St Magnus Cathedral – Earl's Palace Kirkwall loop from Kirkwall

2. Kirkwall Town Hall – St Magnus Cathedral loop from Kirkwall

3. Earl's Palace Kirkwall – Kirkwall Town Hall loop from Kirkwall

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