Spynie Palace reopens to visitors after five-month Covid-19 closure

VISITORS are being welcomed back to Moray's Spynie Palace this week as Historic Environment Scotland (HES) reopens sites across the country in phases.

Spynie Palace, the residence of the bishops of Moray for 500 years, closed to visitors in December due to nationwide Covid-19 restrictions.

The largest surviving medieval bishop’s house in Scotland, the palace was once used as a guest house for royalty travelling in the area.

HES reopened more than 70 per cent of its ticketed and free-to-access attractions last month and more ticketed sites will reopen throughout the summer.

Alex Paterson, HES chief executive, said: "We are pleased to announce even more of our sites reopening up and down the country, providing visitors with the opportunity to enjoy much-loved heritage attractions once again.

"As well as attractions such as Spynie Palace, we are opening a further 12 of our ticketed sites to visitors over May and June, including a number of seasonal sites, joining over 70 per cent of our attractions which opened at the end of April with additional sites to follow.

"With over 5,000 years of history in our care, we’ve adopted a phased approach to reopening, providing as diverse a mix of attractions as possible, as well as reviewing and implementing the individual reopening requirements of each site, in line with Scottish Government guidance."

Safety measures are in place at all sites, with visitors required to wear face coverings in indoor locations and in some enclosed spaces. One-way systems will be in place in some locations.

For more information on further HES sites reopening visit restarthistory.scot.

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