Canterbury, England’s first cathedral

"Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Cathedral was founded in 597 but was completely rebuilt between 1070 and 1077. The east end was greatly enlarged at the beginning of the 12th century, and largely rebuilt in the Gothic style following a fire in 1174. The Norman nave and transepts survived until the late 14th century, when they were demolished to make way for the present structures. The Cathedral houses over 1200 square meters of stained glass, including some of the oldest in Britain (such as the 'Adam Digging' window). A pivotal moment in the history of the Cathedral was the murder of the archbishop, Thomas Becket, in the north-west transept (also known as the Martyrdom) on Tuesday 29 December 1170, by knights of King Henry II. The king had frequent conflicts with the strong-willed Becket and is said to have exclaimed in frustration, "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" Four knights took it literally and murdered Becket in his own Cathedral. After the Anglo-Saxon Ælfheah in 1012, Becket was the second Archbishop of Canterbury to be murdered. The posthumous veneration of Becket transformed the Cathedral into a place of pilgrimage, necessitating both expansion of the building and an increase in wealth, via revenues from pilgrims, in order to make expansion possible."

Canterbury ist von London aus in 75 Minuten mit dem Zug bequem zu erreichen - also raus aus der Stadt und ab aufs Land. Die Cathedral ist nicht nur wegen ihrer Grösse absolut beeindruckend, sondern auch wegen den 1400 Jahren Geschichte und Geschichten. Besonders beeindruckend ist, dass wir mit unserem Ticket nun während einem Jahr beliebig oft wieder Eintritt haben, das Kinder kostenlos sind usw. Die Kirche kann auch sozial sein.
Der Ausflug hat sich definitiv gelohnt.Read more