Westminster Abbey – London

Westminster Abbey – London

Today’s Westminster Abbey was built on the ruins of an ancient Benedictine church from 1065.

Much of the current building was built between 1245 and 1272 in French-English Gothic style, the nave was built between 1376 and 1517 while the exterior was completed in 1745 with the addition of the two western towers. 

Owned by the Royal Family, it is the most important Anglican place of worship in the United Kingdom and, since 1066, Westminster Abbey has been the site of the coronation of British monarchs.

Entering through the western door, in the floor in the center of the nave, is the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a British soldier who died in battle during the First World War.

Inside the Abbey there are several tombs and chapels but the most famous are the Lady Chapel with the choir benches of 1512 and the Poets’ Corner with the tombs and mausoleums of great masters of English literature such as Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare.

At the end of the nave is the Lady Chapel (or Chapel of Henry VII), the greatest masterpiece of medieval English architecture, with a fan-vaulted ceiling. In this chapel are the tombs of King Henry VII with his wife Elizabeth of York, Queen Elizabeth I, Mary of Scotland and Mary I called the Bloody.

The burial place of numerous British royals and personalities of British history, it is the place where the most important religious events are held: such as the solemn funeral ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II, on 19th September 2022 and the funeral of Princess Diana on 6th September 1997. Another date to remember is the wedding of the heir to the throne William with Kate Middleton on 29th April 2011.

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