Rosslyn Chapel

Hitting global fame thanks to Dan Brown’s thriller The Da Vinci Code, this celebrity church in the village of Roslin, just outside the city, is both a religious riddle of divine masonry and an architectural treasure. The holy place was built in 1446 for Sir William St Clair, the third prince of Orkney, and its interior has to be seen to be believed. The showstopper is 200-plus majestic keystone carvings covering the nave, apse and altar.