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Photo credit, Getty Images/Pawel Libera
A stone’s throw from the banks of the River Thames and right next to the Houses of Parliament in central London, Westminster Abbey has for centuries been the site of ceremonies of national importance.
The Abbey is the historic church where Britain’s kings and queens are crowned, including the Queen’s coronation in 1953.
The church we see today was rebuilt by Henry III in 1245, but it was founded much earlier, in 960, by Benedictine monks.
“The site of the abbey has been at the center of English political life for almost a thousand years,” says Dr Hannah Boston, lecturer in medieval history at Magdalen College, University of Oxford.
Today, more than 3,300 famous people, including monarchs, are buried or commemorated in Westminster Abbey.
As millions around the world bid a final farewell to Queen Elizabeth II during her funeral ceremony at Westminster Abbey, here are five interesting facts about this grand, ancient building.
1. He’s hosted 16 royal weddings
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Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton kneel at the altar of Westminster Abbey, London, during their royal wedding ceremony in 2011.
In 2011, wearing a yellow dress, Queen Elizabeth II attended the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the most recent to take place at the abbey.
Their marriage is part of a long line of royal marriages, which dates back nine hundred years.
So far, 16 royal weddings have taken place at the abbey, from Henry I, who married Princess Matilda of Scotland there in 1100, to the marriage of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip in 1947.
2. The Abbey is home to Britain’s oldest gate
It wasn’t until 2005 that Westminster Abbey was discovered to house Britain’s oldest gate, following a detailed survey.
It was built in the 1050s, before the Norman Conquest.
“Edward the Confessor, King of England from 1042 to 1066, had the first abbey built,” says Dr Boston.
But little of the original Westminster Abbey has survived, apart from the door.
“It was probably the first building in England to be built in the new Romanesque style that was spreading elsewhere in Europe. Excavations have shown it to be 87m long,” says Dr Boston.
The door is covered with fragments of cowhide. In the 19th century, a legend emerged suggesting that these fragments of cowhide were actually human skin, belonging to someone who had been flayed after being caught committing sacrilege or robbery in the church. .
The skin would have been nailed to the door to deter others.
3. A multitude of royal tombs – and thousands more
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The tomb of Queen Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Abbey is the final resting place of 30 queens and kings, the oldest of whom is King Edward the Confessor.
Others include Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, and eleven queens consort (the wife of a sitting king).
The last monarch to be buried in Westminster Abbey was King George II in 1760.
But the kings are not the only ones to be buried in the abbey.
It is the final resting place of over 3,300 people, including Sir Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, George Frederic Handel and writer and poet Mary Trevor.
The abbey is also home to the Poets’ Corner, a memorial to writers and poets, including Jane Austen and Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë.
In modern times, royal funerals have been held at the Abbey, including those of Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mother, in 2002, those of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997, and now those of Queen Elizabeth II.
4. The coronation chair
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The Coronation Chair was made by order of King Edward I to surround the famous Stone of Scone.
The coronation chair is considered one of the most famous pieces of furniture in the world, and it has been central to the coronations of British monarchs for seven centuries.
It was made by order of King Edward I to house the famous Stone of Scone, an object of reverence for Scots that Edward took to London (and briefly stolen by Scottish Nationalists in 1950).
Queen Elizabeth II sat in the chair above the stone when she was crowned at her coronation in 1953 and the chair will also feature in the ceremony for her son King Charles III.
Since 1066, all but two monarchs have been crowned in Westminster Abbey, 39 in total.
5. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and its pavement predicts the end of the world
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The side door of Westminster Abbey
In front of the abbey’s high altar is a mosaic floor of medieval tiles that features three inscriptions predicting the end of the world. It is made of geometric patterns constructed from pieces of stone and opaque colored glass of different colors and sizes, cut into a variety of shapes.
Known as the Cosmati cobblestone, it mysteriously suggests that the world will last 19,683 years.
But it was only recently that this message became visible, after a major program of cleaning and conservation.
In 1987, the apocalyptic mosaic, oldest gate and coronation chariot became even more important to world culture when the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey were declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Westminster Abbey was inscribed because it is “a striking example of the successive phases of English Gothic art” and because it “is of great historical and symbolic importance”.