The most renowned places of worship in the world are often the most lavish.

The Vatican's Sistine Chapel boasts the intricate famed work of Michelangelo while Barcelona's Segrada Familia remains incomplete since construction began in 1882.

But some of Scotland's unsung kirks are heralded as must-see spots in a new book by travel author Dixe Wills, published on October 3.

And they're all incredibly tiny.

Where: Strathcarron, Highland

Built: 1827

Denomination: Church of Scotland

Congregation: 200 when first built

Croick Church was built in 1827 with just over £1000 of government grants and planned by Thomas Telford.

The church and its ministers featured prominently in the Highland clearances of Glencalvie in 1845, its grounds providing refuge for evicted Scots.

Their names as well as details of the events are still inscribed on the windows, reading "Glencalvie people was in the churchyard here May 24 1845" and "The Glencalvie tenants resided here May 24 1845" and, most poignantly, "Glencalvie people the wicked generation Glencalvie."

Where: Isle of Canna, Inner Hebrides

Built: 1912

Denomination: Presbyterian, Church of Scotland

Congregation: 26 at most

This church is a fairly modern addition to the Isle of Canna, dedicated to one of the island's lairds Robert Thom.

Canna and neighbouring island Sanday were left to the National Trust for Scotland by their previous owner, the Gaelic folklorist and scholar John Lorne Campbell in 1981, and are run as a farm and conservation area.

The thin circular bell tower at the western end of the church has led to the building being given the nickname "The Rocket Church".

The last theft reported on Canna, aside from a crime wave in 2015, was believed to have been in the 1960s when a carved wooden plate was stolen from the church.

Where: Linton, Borders

Built: New foundations laid in 1906. The building was in ruins in 1560.

Denomination: Church of Scotland

Congregation: 50

The white freestone building consists of a nave and a semi-circular apse, which is strikingly frescoed. The mural depicts three angels holding a scroll which reads "Alleluia for the lord god omnipotent reigneth."

The graveyard, now lost, is reputed to be the burial place of Scots who died at Flodden and were returned to the nearest consecrated ground of their homeland for burial.

Where: Linlithgow, West Lothian

Built: (Consecrated) 1928

Denomination: Episcopalian

Congregation: 75

One of Scotland's most unusual churches, St Peter's Byzantine-style building is sandwiched between a chip shop and a hairdressers.

Episcopalians, persecuted until the beginning of the 20th century, eventually found a home in the purpose-built place of worship.

Where: Killin, Stirling

Built: 1876

Denomination: Episcopalian, Catholic

Congregation: 100-200

Constructed by the Earl of Breadalbane, St Fillan's was a private chapel used by shooting parties, giving it the local nickname of the "Grouse Church."

It is a corrugated iron church - commonly referred to as a "tin tabernacle" - and is one of only a dozen listed in Scotland. Only four are in ecclesiastical use.