Publication Account
Date 1996
Event ID 1016194
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016194
The ingenuity and improvisation of the Italian prisoners-of-war who had worked on the Churchill Barriers led to the creation of this small chapel dedicated to Regina Pacis, the Queen of Peace (see p.29). It was designed by Domenico Chiocchetti, an artist and church decorator in peacetime, and consists of two Nissen huts placed end-to-end with embellishments made largely from materials salvaged from the sea. The entrance has an elaborate facade with pinnacles and a bell cote, and the colourful interior is divided into nave and chancel by a beautiful wrought-iron screen. Behind the altar is a painting of the Madonna and Child, flanked by windows with painted glass, and the entire span of the vault is painted with finely detailed frescoes.
The prisoner-of-war camp was already abandoned by the time that the chapel was finished in 1945, but, outside the chapel, there is a concrete statue of St George slaying the dragon which formerly decorated the camp 'square'. Within its base is preserved a roll with the names of all the prisoners. Through the efforts of local people, the chapel was restored by its chief creator, Domenico Chiocchetti, during a three-week visit in 1960, and it retains today a very special place in Orcadian memory of the last war.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Orkney’, (1996).
