2. The Da Vinci Code Brought About the “Rosslyn Miracle”
Dan Brown said that when he began writing his breakout novel, The Da Vinci Code, he “knew that its finale would have to take place at the most mysterious and magical chapel on earth — Rosslyn.” Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu’s search for the Holy Grail brought them to this iconic building where, in the story, Sophie meets the grandmother that she had long believed was dead. The story is of course fiction, and almost all of the claims about the Holy Grail are pseudo-history that have long been debunked by historians. However, the effect that the novel had on Rosslyn Chapel was nothing short of miraculous.
Fans of The Da Vinci Code flocked to the chapel to view its enigmatic carvings for themselves and see what they could make of them. The chapel had long been a site for tourists to visit, but with the book’s success, the number of visitors surged from just a few hundred per month to as many as 176,000. The income generated from all of these visitors enabled the Rosslyn Chapel Trust, which is concerned with the chapel’s preservation, to carry out many much-needed restorations. The fortunes of the decaying were completely turned around, and its stone treasures will likely be enjoyed for generations to come.