Examine individual changes

'[[File:Itpoopan Chapel - Lamb Holm - Orkney - kingsley - 29-JUN-09.JPG|thumb|Exterior of the Italian Chapel.]] [[File:Orkneyitalianchapel2.JPG|thumb|The Italian Chapel, Interior.]] [[File:The Italian Chapel, Lamb Holm - font - geograph.org.uk - 955182.jpg|thumb|Font of the Italian Chapel]] The '''Italian Chapel''' is a highly ornate [[Catholic]] chapel on [[Lamb Holm]] in the [[Orkney Islands]]. It was built during World War II by Italian prisoners of war, who were housed on the previously uninhabited island while they constructed the [[Churchill Barriers]] to the east of [[Scapa Flow]]. Only the concrete foundations of the other buildings of the prisoner-of-war camp survive. It was not completed until after the end of the war, and was restored in the 199990s and again in the 1990s. It is now a popular tourist attraction, and a category A [[listed building]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Lamb Holm the Italian Chapel |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/sc-12728-lamb-holm-the-italian-chapel-roman-cathol|publisher=Listed Buildings Online |accessdate=2011-06-12 }}</ref> == Construction == 550 [[Italy|Italian]] [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]], captured in North Africa during [[World War II]], were brought to [[Orkney]] in 1942. They worked on the construction of the [[Churchill Barriers]], four causeways created to block access to [[Scapa Flow]].<ref>{{cite book| author=Colpi, Terri| title=Italians Forward: a Visual History of the Italian Community in Great Britain| publisher=Mainstream| year=1991| isbn=1-85158-349-1}}</ref> 200 were based at Camp 60 on Lamb Holm.<ref name="essential"/> In 1943, Major Thomas Pyres Buckland, Camp 60's new commandant, and Father Gioacchino Giacobazzi, the camp's padre, agreed that a place of worship was required. The chapel was constructed from limited materials by the [[prisoner of war|prisoners]]. Two [[Nissen hut]]s were joined end-to-end. The corrugated interior was then covered with plasterboard and the altar and altar rail were constructed from concrete left over from work on the barriers. Most of the interior decoration was done by [[Domenico Chiocchetti]], a prisoner from [[Moena]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst3934.html | title=Italian Chapel| publisher=[[Gazetteer for Scotland]]| accessdate=2009-08-30}}</ref> He painted the sanctuary end of the chapel and fellow-prisoners decorated the entire interior. They created a facade out of concrete, concealing the shape of the hut and making the building look like a church. The light holders were made out of [[corned beef]] tins. The baptismal font was made from the inside of a car exhaust covered in a layer of concrete. Chiocchetti remained on the island to finish decorating the newly consecrated chapel, even when his fellow prisoners were released shortly before the end of the war.<ref name="essential">Essential Scotland: The Miracle of Lambholm {{Dead link| url=http://www.callnetuk.com/home/hibs/the1.htm|date=October 2009}}</ref><ref>''Orkney's Italian Chapel''. P.O.W. Chapel Preservation Committee, Stromness undated, p.5</ref> == Preservation == In 1958, the Chapel Preservation Committee was set up by a group of Orcadians. In 1960, Chiocchetti returned to assist in the restoration. He returned again in 1964, with Mrs Maria Chiocchetti, but he was too ill to travel when some of the other prisoners returned in 1992 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of their arrival on the island. He died in 1999. In 1996, a declaration was jointly signed by officials in Orkney and Chiocchetti's hometown of Moena, reinforcing the ties between the two places. Today, the [[tin tabernacle]] is still used as a chapel and remains a popular tourist attraction, receiving over 100,000 visitors every year. It has become one of the best-known and moving symbols of reconciliation in the British Isles.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.orcadian.co.uk/features/articles/prisoners.htm| publisher=[[The Orcadian]]|date=March 2002| title=The history of the Italian Chapel| accessdate=2009-08-30}}</ref> Philip Paris wrote two books, one fiction and one non-fiction, about the building of the chapel.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.philipparis.co.uk/italian_chapel.html|title=Philip Paris, Author: The Italian Chapel}}</ref> The novel ''The Chapel at the Edge of the World'' by [[Kirsten Mckenzie]] covers the chapel's building.<ref>{{cite news|last1=House|first1=Christian|title=The Chapel at the Edge of the World, By Kirsten McKenzie|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-chapel-at-the-edge-of-the-world-by-kirsten-mckenzie-1767715.html|accessdate=24 September 2016|work=The Independent|date=8 August 2009}}</ref> In 2014, a special mass was held at the chapel to mark its 70th Anniversary. <ref>http://orkneychant.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/angela-chiochetti-sings-panis-angelicus.html</ref> During the mass, Angela Chiochetti, the daughter of Domenico Chiochetti, sang "Panus Angelicus" as part of the celebration of the mass. == Media == <gallery> Image:Orkneyitalianchapel1 brightened.jpg|Front facade in 2007 Image:Italian Chapel Ironwork - Lamb Holm - Orkney - kingsley - 29-JUN-09.JPG|Interior metalwork detail Image:Italian War Memorial, Lamb Holm - geograph.org.uk - 955201.jpg|War memorial, including a statue of [[Saint George]], outside the chapel </gallery> == See also == * [[Pietermaritzburg Italian P.O.W. Church]] == References == {{reflist}} == External links == {{Commons category}} {{Coord|58.88968|N|2.89005|W|region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(HY488006)|display=title}}<!-- Note: WGS84 lat/long, converted from OSGB36 grid ref --> * {{oscoor gbx|HY488006}} * [http://www.spirit-of-orkney.com/contents1a/2009/08/orkneys-italian-chapel/ Orkney’s Italian Chapel] [[Category:Roman Catholic churches completed in 1943]] [[Category:Category A listed buildings in Orkney]] [[Category:Listed Roman Catholic churches in Scotland]] [[Category:Roman Catholic chapels in Scotland]] [[Category:Churches in Orkney]] [[Category:Italy in World War II]] [[Category:United Kingdom home front during World War II]] [[Category:1943 establishments in Scotland]] [[Category:Italy–United Kingdom relations]] [[Category:Foreign relations of Scotland]]'