Adomnan, Abbot of Iona from 679 to 704 CE, was the author of a treatise about the Holy Places: On the Holy Places. Its source was Arculf, Bishop of Gaul, who visited the holy places in Jerusalem. Arculf traveled all over the Holy Land, and then went to Damascus, Constantinople and Alexandria. After many experiences he reached Adomnan, who was learned in the Scriptures and an expert on the Holy Places. They held many discussions, and Adomnan. carefully and completely wrote down every description by Arculf of the important things he had seen in the Holy Land . Adomnan�s On the Holy Places contains all that we know about Arculf. Before or during the time that Arculf visited lona, Adomnan read other works on the Holy Land as is obvious from some of the questions he puts to Arculf. It is also clear from the composition that Adomnan used a number of books, as well as classical sources, which are echoed in his work, such as Eucherius and Jerome. Adomnan performed a great service when he copied out some Church plans, which Arculf had drawn for him. These are almost the only architectural plans we have till the sixteenth century. Plans and text alike show that ecclesiastically the Holy Land had made a rapid recovery after the Muslim conquest. The cooperation between Arculf and Adomnan enables us to form a remarkably clear picture of the holy places as they appeared in the early years of the Umayyad dynasty.