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Canterbury, England Luxury Tours, Vacations and Travel Packages Guide |
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 The principal attraction of Canterbury, a city which still bears the stamp of the Middle Ages in places, is the Cathedral, which was built between the 11th and 16th centuries. As early as 597, the first bishop's church in England stood on this site; Canterbury has been the seat of the head of the primate of the Anglican church ever since.
The present building rests on 11 th-century Norman foundations. After a fire in 1 174, the church was rebuilt by the architect William of Sens, who brought in the Early Gothic style from France in the tripartite division of the walls, the ogival arches and the doubled transept; such stylistic elements made Canterbury Cathedral a model for other English cathedrals. Between 1391 and 1405, the architect Henry Yevele oversaw the building of the High Gothic nave, which attained a stylistic unity rare in English Gothic. Some fine medieval stained-glass windows survived both the Civil War and World War II. The spot where the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas a Becket, was murdered on December 29th, 1170, is called the Martyrdom.
Among the many attractions in the historic old town is The Canterbury Tales Museum on St. Margret's Street, a recreation, with authentic sounds and smells, of the pilgrimage taken by the colorful characters in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. In busy Mercery Lane, the old town's pedestrian zone, and the narrow, quaint alleys leading off it, you can see old halftimbered houses; and enough of the 13th-and 14th-century city walls have survived that you can imagine yourself in a medieval town. On High Street, you can find the rebuilt Chequers of Hope inn, which Chaucer mentioned; while over the bridge, directly on the river Stour, are two 18th-century weavers' houses. Past these is the impressive West Gate, which dates from the 16th century and which today functions as the Museum of City History. |
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