I had lived in England within a few hours' drive of Canterbury, for over thirty years, and yet until recently had never visited or for that matter even thought of visiting Canterbury cathedral.
One can be fairly certain that a great many residents of England who liver even closer are the same.
Yet tens of thousands of tourists and pilgrims visit Canterbury Cathedral every year.
How can we not go to what is one of the most important historical places in England.
The bare facts about Canterbury cathedral are that it was greatly rebuilt in 1174 after fires had destroyed earlier structures.
There isn't one schoolboy or schoolgirls who has studied history who doesn't know about the murder of Archbishop Thomas Beckett in 1170.
He was murdered in the northwest transept of the cathedral on the explicit orders of Henry II by four of his knights.
This foul deed in fact was the direct cause of the cathedral becoming the centre of English Christianity, because three years after his death Thomas Beckett was canonised, and this made Henry II repent, and that was the result of his repentance.
This has had consequences which have reached down to modern day Christianity, and even those of us with little faith cannot fail to be moved when we stand close to the spot where this murder took place.
The cathedral is rightly famous for its 12th and 13th century stained glass windows, which were saved prior to a 1942 air raid which caused huge damage to Canterbury because local people removed them for safe keeping.
The replacement windows were destroyed but the cathedral remained intact.
You can see the windows when you visit Canterbury Cathedral, and the ones to especially look out for are the Great West Window, Bible Windows, and the Miracle Windows.
Canterbury itself has been an important town since Roman times, but the key moment came around AD597 when St Augustine was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to convert the Anglo Saxons to Christianity.
Canterbury became the seat of the Primate of the Church of England and St Augustine the first Archbishop.
Many of us remember Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, about a band of pilgrims travelling from London to the shrine of Sir Thomas Beckett.
Canterbury and its Cathedral are so much a part of English Christian history, it is a must visit place.
One can be fairly certain that a great many residents of England who liver even closer are the same.
Yet tens of thousands of tourists and pilgrims visit Canterbury Cathedral every year.
How can we not go to what is one of the most important historical places in England.
The bare facts about Canterbury cathedral are that it was greatly rebuilt in 1174 after fires had destroyed earlier structures.
There isn't one schoolboy or schoolgirls who has studied history who doesn't know about the murder of Archbishop Thomas Beckett in 1170.
He was murdered in the northwest transept of the cathedral on the explicit orders of Henry II by four of his knights.
This foul deed in fact was the direct cause of the cathedral becoming the centre of English Christianity, because three years after his death Thomas Beckett was canonised, and this made Henry II repent, and that was the result of his repentance.
This has had consequences which have reached down to modern day Christianity, and even those of us with little faith cannot fail to be moved when we stand close to the spot where this murder took place.
The cathedral is rightly famous for its 12th and 13th century stained glass windows, which were saved prior to a 1942 air raid which caused huge damage to Canterbury because local people removed them for safe keeping.
The replacement windows were destroyed but the cathedral remained intact.
You can see the windows when you visit Canterbury Cathedral, and the ones to especially look out for are the Great West Window, Bible Windows, and the Miracle Windows.
Canterbury itself has been an important town since Roman times, but the key moment came around AD597 when St Augustine was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to convert the Anglo Saxons to Christianity.
Canterbury became the seat of the Primate of the Church of England and St Augustine the first Archbishop.
Many of us remember Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, about a band of pilgrims travelling from London to the shrine of Sir Thomas Beckett.
Canterbury and its Cathedral are so much a part of English Christian history, it is a must visit place.
Source...