Iona Abbey is a reconstruction of a 12th Century Benedictine abbey, built on the spot of the old monastic school established by the missionary Columba in 536 AD. The mission school continued to function for over 600 years, sending missionaries throughout Scotland, Wales, England and Europe. Columba and his monks followed the Bible as their sole authority and observed the 7th-day as the Sabbath. [previous document] [back to Index] [next document] [Approaching the End] .