Description of the attraction
St. Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived on the coast of Kent in 597. Legend has it that Pope Gregory the Great was struck by the beauty of the English slaves he saw in the slave market, so he ordered Augustine, accompanied by several monks, to go as a missionary to England to convert this country to Christianity. King Ethelbert of Kent was married to the Frankish princess Berthe, who was already a Christian, and favored Christianity. According to other sources, King Ethelbert himself asked Pope Gregory to send missionaries to Britain. Augustine was elevated to the rank of bishop and determined the location of his episcopal throne precisely in Canterbury. In 602, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was founded.
A key moment in the history of Canterbury Cathedral was the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket on December 29, 1170. He was canonized, and pilgrims from all over Britain were drawn to the cathedral. Such a pilgrimage is described by Jeffrey Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales.
In the following centuries, the cathedral was repeatedly completed and rebuilt, but part of the choir and some windows with stained-glass windows have survived from the 12th century, when the cathedral was rebuilt after the devastating fire of 1174. Like many architectural ensembles like it, Canterbury Cathedral is a combination of different architectural styles and trends. The composition of the building is very complex: the cathedral consists of many rooms and chapels attached to each other and is surrounded by buildings for various purposes.
The oldest part of the cathedral - the east - retains features of Romanesque architecture, and the central nave was built in the late 14th - early 15th century. Architect William English erected the beautiful Holy Trinity Chapel, which housed Thomas Becket's cancer. The cathedral has many amazingly beautiful stained glass windows, the earliest of which dates back to 1176. The stained-glass windows depict both biblical scenes and scenes of everyday life and the faces of real people.
Later, the towers of the cathedral were built, with the north tower being completed only in 1832. The central tower is influenced by the French style, but the large window located between the towers is an example of typical English architecture. On the territory of the cathedral there are very beautiful monastery gardens with an excellent collection of rare plants.
