Difference between revisions of "Stonehenge"
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Stonehenge is aligned to the sunrise at the summer [[solstice]], or longest day of the year, around June 21. On that day the sun shines through the sarsen stone and hits something called the heel stone which lights up like a mirror, as it is made of polished quartz. | Stonehenge is aligned to the sunrise at the summer [[solstice]], or longest day of the year, around June 21. On that day the sun shines through the sarsen stone and hits something called the heel stone which lights up like a mirror, as it is made of polished quartz. | ||
| − | In [[World War I]] the British government decided to demolish Stonehenge in order to make room for a longer runway for the nearby air-force base. After a great deal of public protest, it was instead decided to divert the runway. <ref> [http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/gem-projects/hm/Stonehenge.pdf The Legend of Stonehenge] </ref> Stonehenge currently receives an important amount of visitors during the summer season. Furthermore, the [[Druidry|Druids]] insist on holding their ceremonies there as they have done for thousands of years | + | In [[World War I]] the British government decided to demolish Stonehenge in order to make room for a longer runway for the nearby air-force base. After a great deal of public protest, it was instead decided to divert the runway. <ref> [http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/gem-projects/hm/Stonehenge.pdf The Legend of Stonehenge] </ref> Stonehenge currently receives an important amount of visitors during the summer season. Furthermore, the [[Druidry|Druids]] insist on holding their ceremonies there as they have done for thousands of years but they were stopped by the government in the mid 1980s, and, after fifteen years, controlled access to Stonehenge was granted in 2000. <ref> [http://www.lugodoc.demon.co.uk/Druids/DRUIDS.htm Lugodoc's Guide to Druids] </ref> However the Druids had nothing to do with the construction of the stone rings. <ref> [http://www.sacredsites.com/europe/england/stonehenge.html Stonehenge, England] </ref> |
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 17:51, May 7, 2010
Stonehenge is a megalithic monument located in southern England (lies on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire). The word comes from the Anglo-Saxon stone, meaning 'stone', and henge, meaning 'hinge', because the distinctive upright pylons with their crosspieces were thought to resemble a door or gate. The tallest of these, known as the 'sarsen', is nearly 100 feet high. At present it is a tourist attraction and a place of pilgrimage for neo-druids.
Stonehenge was constructed between 3000 and 1600 BC. [1]
Stonehenge is aligned to the sunrise at the summer solstice, or longest day of the year, around June 21. On that day the sun shines through the sarsen stone and hits something called the heel stone which lights up like a mirror, as it is made of polished quartz.
In World War I the British government decided to demolish Stonehenge in order to make room for a longer runway for the nearby air-force base. After a great deal of public protest, it was instead decided to divert the runway. [2] Stonehenge currently receives an important amount of visitors during the summer season. Furthermore, the Druids insist on holding their ceremonies there as they have done for thousands of years but they were stopped by the government in the mid 1980s, and, after fifteen years, controlled access to Stonehenge was granted in 2000. [3] However the Druids had nothing to do with the construction of the stone rings. [4]
