History of Art in the UK: Westminster Abbey. FREEWRITING.

Last year, one of my favorite high school subjects was History of Art. With my teacher, Fuensanta, I learned a lot about a subject that I found at first a little hard. But at the end of the year, here I am, writing a blog entry just for fun about one of the most beautiful, incredible and complicated buildings in UK, the Westminster Abbey.

It is located in the City of Westminster. It’s a beautiful huge gothic abbey, made of stone, and surrounded by a large garden in the heart of the chaotic city of London. This Abbey was built in 10th Century, but it was rebuilt by King Edward the Confessor in order to have a royal burial church. Every king or queen from King William the Conqueror to Queen Elizabeth II has been crowned there. 

In addition, the Abbey has a magnificent architecture; Its great height reminds us the path to heaven and to God himself -That is one of the most important characteristics of the Gothic style. The Abbey is ruled by the Dean of Westminster, and everyday the priests give sermons for everyone who wants to join the mass.

Due to its history, the Abbey has an enormous library which contains, paintings, books, manuscripts, a summary of the coronations and royal weddings, and so on… Also you can find chapels and memorials of kings and queens of England such as the Chapel of King Henry VII, The Chapel of St. Paul, The Royal Vault, Monuments to Mary and Elizabeth….

However, the Abbey suffered during the World War II. Its treasures were taken out of there and protected in country houses but some bombs were thrown to the building causing important damage. 

Following the tradition, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned there in 1953. In 2011, Prince William and Kate Middleton got married in the Abbey.

From my point of view, the Westminster Abbey is really interesting not only because of the obvious importance due to its great architecture, tombs and religious interests but also because of the history that contains.