Westminster Abbey United Kingdom

Legendary

This 10th century church as been used for royal coronations since the 1066.

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The very first coronation here nearly ended in disaster. When William the Conqueror was crowned on Christmas Day 1066, the crowd inside shouted to cheer their new king.

His soldiers waiting outside thought the noise meant an attack. They panicked, rioted, and set nearby houses on fire.

William had just won the Battle of Hastings and taken the English throne. He chose this church to show he was the rightful king, following in the footsteps of the king before him.

That earlier king was Edward the Confessor. He'd built a large church here beside the River Thames in London and saw it finished in 1065.

He died just days later and was buried inside. He was the first king laid to rest in the Abbey, but far from the last.

About 200 years later, King Henry III decided Edward deserved something grander. In 1245, he began tearing down the old church and building a new one in the tall, pointed Gothic style.

That's the church that stands today. The first king crowned in it was Edward I, in 1274.

Edward I added something famous. He had a special wooden chair built to hold the Stone of Scone, a sacred stone that Scottish kings had been crowned on, which he'd taken from Scotland.

That Coronation Chair is still used. Almost every English and British king and queen since 1066 has been crowned in this Abbey, 40 coronations so far, most recently King Charles III in 2023.

Queen Elizabeth II's coronation here in 1953 was the first one ever shown on television. About 27 million people in Britain watched.

The Abbey is also a place to remember people. More than 3,300 are buried or honored here, including kings, queens, scientists, and writers.

One corner became a favorite resting place for writers, starting with the poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Today it's known as Poets' Corner.

UNESCO named the Abbey a World Heritage Site in 1987, along with the Palace of Westminster across the street.

See the Coronation Chair, scratched with old carvings and initials from centuries of visitors. Walk through Poets' Corner and look for the names of famous writers carved in the floor and walls. Then visit the shrine of Edward the Confessor, the king who started it all.

Sources: Westminster Abbey (History of Coronations), Westminster Abbey (Coronation Stories), and Wikipedia.