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Description

St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose , Roxburghshire , in the Scottish Borders . It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks on the request of King David I of Scotland , and was the chief house of that order in the country until the Reformation . It was headed by the Abbot or Commendator of Melrose . Today the abbey is maintained by Historic Scotland .

The east end of the abbey was completed in 1146. Other buildings in the complex were added over the next 50 years. The abbey was built in the Gothic manner , and in the form of a St. John's cross . A considerable portion of the abbey is now in ruins. A structure dating from 1590 is maintained as a museum open to the public.

Alexander II and other Scottish kings and nobles are buried at the abbey. A lead container believed to hold the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce was found in 1921 below the Chapter House site; it was found again in a 1998 excavation. This was documented in records of his death. The rest of his body is buried in Dunfermline Abbey .

Description

St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose , Roxburghshire , in the Scottish Borders . It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks on the request of King David I of Scotland , and was the chief house of that order in the country until the Reformation . It was headed by the Abbot or Commendator of Melrose . Today the abbey is maintained by Historic Scotland .

The east end of the abbey was completed in 1146. Other buildings in the complex were added over the next 50 years. The abbey was built in the Gothic manner , and in the form of a St. John's cross . A considerable portion of the abbey is now in ruins. A structure dating from 1590 is maintained as a museum open to the public.

Alexander II and other Scottish kings and nobles are buried at the abbey. A lead container believed to hold the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce was found in 1921 below the Chapter House site; it was found again in a 1998 excavation. This was documented in records of his death. The rest of his body is buried in Dunfermline Abbey .