WESTMINSTER ABBEY

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE ABBEYWestminster Abbey is a large, collegiate, mainly Gothic Abbey church in the City of Westminster (London, England). It is one of the United Kingdom's most notable religious buildings and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for British monarchs. The building itself was a Benedictine monastic church until the monastery was dissolved in 1539. Between 1540 and 1556, the Abbey had the status of a Cathedral. Since 1560, the building has been no longer an Abbey or a Cathedral, having instead the status of a Church of England "Royal Peculiar"— a church responsible directly to the sovereign. According to a tradition, first reported by Sulcard in about 1080, a church was founded at the site in the seventh century, at the time of Mellitus, a bishop of London. The construction of the present church began in 1245, on the orders of King Henry III. There have been 16 royal weddings at the Abbey since 1100. As the burial site of more than 3,300 people, Westminster Abbey is sometimes described as 'Britain's Valhalla'.

A late tradition claims that Aldrich, a young fisherman on the River Thames, had a vision of St. Peter near the site. This seems to have been quoted as the origin of the salmon that Thames fishermen offered to the Abbey in later years – a custom still observed annually by the Fishmongers' Company. The recorded origins of the Abbey date to the 960s or early 970s, when Saint Dunstan and King Edgar installed a community of Benedictine monks on the site. Westminster Abbey is also renowned for its choral tradition, and the repertoire of Anglican church music is heard in daily worship, particularly at the service of Choral Evensong.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ABBEYINDOORThe interior of the collegiate church of St Peter is a Latin cross and has a central nave and two side aisles, with a length of 156 meters and a total width of 34 meters; the vault of the central nave, dating back to 1506, reaches 34 meters. From the western portal we enter the church: immediately we find the Chapel of St. George, once a baptistery and now dedicated to the fallen of the First World War. On the left we can see what is considered the most ancient portrait of an English sovereign who has come down to us: there is depicted Richard II, the portrait dates back to the fourteenth century. In the right aisle there is immediately a plaque on the floor in honour of the founder of scouting Robert Baden-Powell, who died in 1941, and his wife Olave. Following the Abbot's Pew, a series of busts and reliefs depicting various English characters are found. Along the central nave, as soon as we enter the church, we can see the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and, a little further on, a plaque commemorates Winston Churchill. Further on are the tombs of some 19th-century architects and the explorer David Livingstone. There are also other tombs of artists and soldiers who distinguished themselves in the Indian colonial campaigns. In the left aisle stands the monument of William Pitt the Younger. The whole transept, on the right and on the left of the high altar, is occupied by the burials of historical figures, including some saints.

In the Poets' Corner are visible the graves or commemorations of many famous English writers and poets. The high altar, by Sir Gilbert Scott, is surmounted by a stained glass mosaic depicting the Last Supper. Behind it there are the Royal Chapels, the main of which, dedicated to Henry VII, consists of a central nave and two side aisles with a crown of chapels. The chapel, in its whole, contains about a hundred tombs, most of which of English monarchs. The statue of Edward III, which can be seen at the museum, is the oldest wooden statue of the King in Europe. St. Edward's chair is stored in the Abbey, it is the throne where all English monarchs have sat for their Coronation, which has been traditionally held on Christmas Day since 1066, when the first Norman King William the Conqueror was crowned. The Abbey also hosts two schools: the Westminster School, founded by Benedictine monks in 1179, and the Westminster Abbey Choir School, where the chorus boys of the Abbey sing.

OUTDOORThe main facade of the collegiate church of St. Peter in Westminster is oriented to the west and was built in the fifteenth century. Preceded by a churchyard enclosed by a wrought iron gate, it is squeezed between the two bell towers, built between 1722 and 1745 by the English architect Nicholas Hawksmoor in Gothic style, which house the bell concert in D major, fused in 1971; the largest bell weighs 1544 kg. At the center of the façade is the splayed portal, flanked by the statues of Truth, Justice, Mercy and Peace. Above them, within a gallery there are the statues of ten Christian martyrs of the twentieth century: from the left, Maximilian Maria Kolbe, Manche Masemola, Janani Luwum, Elizabeth of Hesse-Darmstadt, Martin Luther King, Óscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Esther John, Lucian Tapiedi, Wang Zhiming. At the center of the façade there is a large ogival polifora, closed by a polychrome glass. The façade of the left arm of the transept, however, is salient, inspired by French models. In the lower part, there are the three large splayed portals (the one on the left is walled); above the portals there are three-light windows and, higher up, a loggia that opens with mullioned windows. In correspondence with the central nave of the transept, there is the large circular rose window; the façade of the transept ends at the top with a triangular tympanum decorated with Gothic motifs; on the sides there are rampant supporting arches, also present in support of the the central nave ant the two side aisles..

FUNERAL MONUMENTSWestminster Abbey houses among its ancient walls more than 600 monuments, and commemorative plaques. The cathedral is home to around 3,000 inhumates, and among the illustrious and impressive burials are the tombs of William the Confessor, Henry III, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York (the parents of Henry VIII). Also Elizabeth I, one of the greatest rulers of England, rests in Westminster as well as her cousin and antagonist Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, whose death sentence was signed by Elizabeth I. Mary Stuart rests in the majestic Lady Chapel built by Henry VII. Together with the crowned heads rest other famous men and women including politicians, scientists, writers and musicians. In the Poets’ Corner, there are the tombs of Chaucer, Dickens, William Blake, Rudyard Kipling and Lord Tennyson to name just a few of them; in addition to the commemorative plaques of Emily Bronte, T.S. Eliot, Shakespeare, Jane Austen and many others. Westminster Abbey was chosen to house the mortal remains of the Unknown Soldier. His tomb is a place of pilgrimage and many heads of state offer their homages to the deceased soldier.

Presentation made byLorenzo Castellano

class 1 A

Liceo Scientifico Statale “G. Galilei” - Pescara -

school year 2018-2019

English teacher: Roberta Miscia