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Barpa Langass is a Neolithic chambered cairn, which now survives as a massive pile of stone. It is located on a hill overlooking a dramatic landscape of barren peatland. The cairn is roughly 16 feet high, and around 82 feet across. The inner chamber is still accessible. From the east side of the tomb the narrow passage leads to a wide chamber. It is difficult to judge the original appearance of the cairn, but it has been suggested that it had a more bun like appearance with outer facing stones and an earthen top portion. This great cairn is the only chambered cairn in the Western Isles with its chamber still roofed over. During excavation in 1911 traces of burnt burials, beaker shards, an arrowhead and a disc of mica (maybe a pendant) were found. On the south side of the same hill is Pobull Fhinn an ancient stone circle.
At the time the cairn was built the Western Isles had a much milder climate, the peat bogs were not yet formed, and the landscape would have been more like southern scrubland and woodland. It would have been capable of providing pasture for grazing animals. Barpa Langass stands on the north side of Beinn Langais, and just half a mile from the stone circle of Pobull Fhinn To find this grand cairn travel to North Uist and it is signposted off the A867 Lochmaddy-Clachan road.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.