France sent their children to Canterbury

Today we visited Canterbury Cathedral. We got up early so we could catch the train that only took 1 hour to get to Canterbury instead of 2 hours. As we were walking from the train station on our way to the cathedral we happened upon the prettiest park EVER called Westgate Gardens!

Does anyone want to give me lots of money so I can buy that house?

Weird tree

After we were done moseying through the park we headed towards the cathedral.

Quick rundown on the history of Canterbury Cathedral. Saint Augustine was sent to Canterbury in 597 by Pope Gregory the Great as a missionary where Saint Augustine established his seat. In 602 St. Augustine dedicated the church to Jesus Christ and the cathedral is now considered the mother church of the Anglican communion. The cathedral has been added onto by a few different archbishops. The Quire was completed in 1184 and the existing Nave was completed in 1405.

Among the important people buried in the cathedral is Saint Thomas Becket. He was the Archbishop from 1162 until he was murdered in 1170. He disagreed with King Henry II about the rights of the church and was murdered by some of the King's followers in the cathedral in this very spot:

A shrine for St. Thomas was built using money from all the pilgrams that made the treck to the cathedral to pay respects to St. Thomas. The original shrine was was destroyed by Henry VIII and a candle is always lit where the shrine stood:

Also buried here is The Black Prince, the Prince of Wales. He was a great military leader and was very popular. He died 1 year before his father, King Edward III and is the first prince to not become king.

Here are some more pictures from inside the cathedral.

The Nave

The Quire

The only thing that marred our day in Canterbury were the hordes of French school-aged kids. They were EVERYWHERE. I'm pretty sure there were no children left in France...