802 Iona burned by Vikings

Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries. Its modern Gaelic name means "Iona of (Saint) Columba". In the early Historic Period Iona lay within the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata. The island was the site of a highly important monastery (Iona Abbey) during the Early Middle Ages. Iona Abbey, now an ecumenical church, is of particular historical and religious interest to pilgrims and visitors alike. It is the most elaborate and best-preserved ecclesiastical building surviving from the Middle Ages in the Western Isles of Scotland. The series of Viking raids on Iona began in 794 and, after its treasures had been plundered many times, Columba's relics were removed and divided two ways between Scotland and Ireland in 849 as the monastery was abandoned.