Orkney Mainland

Northern Isles

Home to the burgh of Kirkwall, the Orcadian capital, and more recent Stromness, dating from the 16th century, Mainland is the most densely populated of the Orcadian isles. Its fertile soil attracted settlers from prehistoric times, as witnessed by the UNESCO World Heritage Neolithic Heart of Orkney, and later Pictish remains. As with the whole of the archipelago, the influence of the Norsemen was strong.