Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of Holyrood Abbey and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
On this page
An abbey, a palace and its residents
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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1128
The abbey
David I founds Holyrood Abbey.
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1501–1505
A palace
James IV builds a palace beside the abbey.
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1528
The tower
James V begins the tower, the oldest surviving part of the palace.
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1561–1567
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary lives in the tower’s royal apartments.
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9 March 1566
Rizzio
David Rizzio, Mary’s secretary, is killed in her apartments.
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1570
The abbey reduced
The abbey’s choir and transepts are pulled down; the nave remains in use as a church.
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1671
Rebuilding
Work begins on rebuilding the palace for Charles II, to plans by Sir William Bruce and Robert Mylne.
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1684–1686
The Great Gallery
Jacob de Wet paints the portraits of Scottish monarchs.
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1745
Bonnie Prince Charlie
Charles Edward Stuart holds court at the palace for about six weeks.
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1850
Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria stays at the palace.
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1970
Listed
The palace is designated a Category A listed building.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.