Michael Fass, 61, the Episcopalian priest of Rosslyn Capel near Edinburgh which featured heavily in the ending to The Da Vinci Code, will leave his post in July.

Reverend Fass said he has been overwhelmed by thousands of Da Vinci fans visiting the chapel following Dan Brown’s claims that the Holy Grail is situated in one of the columns, known as the Apprentice Pillar. The priest said the fabulously ornate building has “become a Disneyland for Da Vinci Code fans.”

Before Da Vinci, Rosslyn had 9,500 tourists a year. Last year that rose to 117,000 visitors. Even more are expected this year after the chapel was used as a location in the film version of the book.

Michael Fass has been at the church for nine years. Yesterday, a friend said: “Rev Fass is a serious and committed man. He thought it was unbearable when services were interrupted by tourists. This has been a place of worship for hundreds of years. You cannot just trample over that because of a book. He raised his concerns with the trust that runs the chapel but the impression was that their interest lies in only getting more people through the door. He was swimming against the tide.”

One can’t help wondering what the size of the congregation was before the book. The Da Vinci Code has certainly made the Church and Christianity more exciting subjects than they were before.