Italian Chapel Archaeology Tours
This Catholic chapel was built by 200 Italian prisoners of war, captured in North Africa in World War II, who were being held on Orkney to construct the Churchill Barriers (to prevent enemy submarines entering Scapa Flow and sinking British Navy ships).
Originally built so that the Italians could have a suitable place of worship (no Catholic churches existed on Orkney at that time), it was constructed of two Nissen huts welded together. The prisoners then used their peace-time skills to turn it into a magnificent work of art, and a testament to friendship – both between the prisoners themselves, and between prisoners and the locals who maintained contact for decades after the Italians returned home.