Mystery surrounds this 5,000 year old monument and that's what I love about it the most. This unique stone circle evolved between 3,000 BC and 1,600 BC and is aligned with the rising and setting of the sun at the solstices, but it's exact purpose remains a mystery. Was Stonehenge a place of sun worship? A healing sanctuary? A sacred burial site? Or something completely different altogether? As much as I would LOVE to know, I kinda like the idea that no one really has this answer.
There is so much more to see here then just the stones, the landscape around Stonehenge is just as fascinating and some of the mysterious remains of ceremonial and domestic sites are older than Stonehenge itself.
As soon as you walk under the tunnel and up onto this World Heritage Site you know that it is a very special place. We felt a great sense of wonder and amazement. Even though there were tourists everywhere it was a very peaceful place, an inspirational place and for many a place of worship and celebration.
The thing hanging around my neck is the free audio tour in 10 languages... I chose English. The information was brilliant and made looking at Stonehenge even more of a wonderful event. The kids had fun looking for the numbers around to - which tell you which part to listen to. It was a little hard to listen to all of it with the kids, but we got most of it. It also kept everyone pretty quiet - which added to the spirit of the place.
A drawing of Stonehenge as it might have appeared in 1000 BC. What we see today are only the remains of the stone circle.
Feeling the coolness of the Sarsen stone compared to the warmness of the Bluestone (which is next to it).
Stonehenge is made up of both of these stones. The Sarsen stones come from Marlborough Downs which is about 30kms away and the Bluestones came from the mystical Preseli Mountains in Wales, 385kms away. Why this particular type of stone was chosen, how the stones were transported and what motivated this incredible feat of engineering, remain a mystery and matter for study and speculation.
We didn't take the following picture... because we can't fly... but here is Stonehenge from an angle where you can see a bit more of what is actually going on.
There is just so much more to be said about Stonehenge, but I had better stop here!
