Glastonbury UK
Rating: 8,5/10 (657 votes)  One of the most ancient and valuable landmarks in Great Britain is the ancient city of Glastonbury, which is located in the famous Somersetshire county, right next to St. Michael's Hill. This city is surrounded by a huge number of legends about the Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur, Merlin and other wizards and sorceresses.
As for the proven historical facts, archaeologists have established that the city was quite densely populated in pre-Roman times, somewhere from 60 BC. e. In the Middle Ages, this city was quite wealthy due to the famous Glastonbury Abbey. According to legend, King Lucius, with the assistance of the prelates he summoned from Rome, opened the first Christian monastery of St. Mary. The stone church appeared in the abbey already in 712.
The graves of three Anglo-Saxon kings are located on the territory of the monastery, but the tomb of the famous St. Patrick, allegedly located here, attracted more interest of tourists and pilgrims. Immediately in 1191, the buried King Arthur and his wife were allegedly discovered; disputes about this find have not subsided for more than a century. Perhaps this rumor was started to draw attention to the restoration of the abbey after the fire of 1184.
Another famous legend associated with the ancient city says that the Holy Grail was brought here, the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper. The Grail has never been found, but there is a symbolic sacred source in Glastonbury called the"Well of the Chalice" and is revered in both Christian and pagan environments.
After the Reformation in England, the Benedictine monks, the inhabitants of the monastery, were persecuted. Later, the medieval buildings of the abbey were almost completely destroyed, and the roads were paved with rubble from which they were made. Along with this, the former greatness of the city of Glastonbury was gone. Today we can only see the ruins of the abbey.
Among the pagan monuments, one can name two impressive preserved oak trees, under which meetings of druid priests once took place, and today folk music concerts are organized. In general, stylized youth music festivals, mainly rock music, are today one of Glastonbury's calling cards.We also recommend reading UK Bleakling Hall Topic: Glastonbury UK. |
