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Friday 16 September, Canterbury and suddenly back to home

Great Britain 2005 - part XXVIII

Elisabeth & Teije
2006-08-28 18:09:22

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To be sure, we ask at breakfast if there isn't a room available for the next night, but alas, we will have to search again. But first we are going to visit the last city on our wish-list, Canterbury. It is not very cold and it seems to get a bit warmer. The sun shines a bit, rains falls now and then, an appropiate ending for a holiday in Great Britain.

Canterbury is best known for its cathedral where Thomas a Becket was murdered in 1170, commisioned by the king, an outrageous thing to do in those times. Churches were refuges in those times and even real criminals couldn't be just dragged from a church to face trial, let alone be murdered. And Becket was the archbishop! But the whole center of Canterbury is certaiunly worth a visit and we walk around a bit first, then have a coffee which is much better than at Hastings yesterday.

We have to pay an entrance fee for the cathedral but there is a clear explanation why this is necessary and almost an apology that it is. In a case like that we have no problems paying the fee (only a few punds). On the outside the cathedral looks already very impressive but the inside is even better: large halls with lots of decoratrion and everywhere tombs of nobles and archbishops.

When a priest with a microphone asks for silence to pray for all victims of terrorism, nature disasters and other human suffering, we just stand on the place where Thomas a Becket was murdered more than 800 years ago on orders of his former friend. It feels rather symbolic and we can sympathise totally with the prayer. Why would any human want to hurt another human being?

Soon after being murdered, Thomas became a saint and Canterbury a place of pilgrimage. About 1400 AD Chaucer described a few of these pilgrims and the stories they told to each other, the Canterbury Tales. In the museum with the same name we make a trip through 14th century Canterbury with some of these tales depicted and told, very nicely ...