Stonehenge is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the United Kingdom. It had been on my bucket list for a long time, until I organized a trip to south of England, when I visited several places, including Bibury, Tintagel Castle and Bath.
VISITING THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE:
Because visiting this place takes around an hour, maybe two, I visited two other tourist attractions in the same day. In the morning we explored the city of Bath (it is not very big, and had enough time) and at two in the afternoon we arrived at Stonehenge, then we headed to the gorgeous Durdle Door beach, where we admired the sunset. The last stop was to check in at The Lugger Inn.
The visiting hours are between 9:30-17:00 in the winter and until 19:00 in the summer. The ticket price is £23.60, and if you are a member of English Heritage, you have free access. Tickets can be purchased both online and on site and there is no need to book the visit in advance. Last entry is allowed two hours before closing time.
From the ticket office to the archaeological site, it is a walking distance of approximately 30 minutes. There are also buses that run regularly and that you can use at no additional cost.
HOW TO GET FROM LONDON TO STONEHENGE:
To get to Stonehenge from London, there are several options, by train. All departures are from the South Western Railway station. The one that seems most accessible to me is by train from South Western Railway, Waterloo station to Andover station, and from there the Activ8 bus to Library Amesbury, 64 stops. The whole journey takes 2h, 30 minutes;
If you don't want to complicate things with public transport or renting a car, you can use some of the day trip offers on Get your guide or Tickets London.
ABOUT STONEHENGE:
Stonehenge stones still remain a mystery not fully resolved by researchers, this place being another proof that there are missing pieces of human evolution.
It is believed that the complex was built in the Neolithic, around the year 3000 BC, and the way in which the stones were moved and arranged still remains a mystery. Some of them have similar characteristics to those from the town of Marlborough, which is 25 km away, and another part of them is believed to have been brought from 250 km away, from Wales.
In Wales, the remains of a similar monument were discovered, which was dismantled and rebuilt in England, a few centuries later, both constructions having a diameter of 100 m and being positioned in the direction from which the sun rises during the summer solstice.
A student from the University of Bristol, named Brian Edwards, discovered after some studies for his doctoral thesis, that the megalithic structure at Stonehenge is actually a reconstruction of the archaeologist Alexander Keiller. However, archaeological evidence proves that Stonehenge is, in fact, a megalithic computer that was built in stages over several hundred years. Other sources, including the official one, presented to tourists, is that it would be a temple dedicated to the gods.
Archaeo-astronomical studies have revealed the fact that the Stonehenge structures mark the most significant dates of the agricultural year and at the same time, they mark some events such as eclipses or solstices.
Near the stone complex at Stonehenge, the ruins of some small buildings were also discovered, which would have represented the homes of people from the year 2500 BC. These homes would have resembled the ones in the photo below.
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN STONEHENGE AND SARMISEGETUSA REGIA, ROMANIA
Until now, 20 alignments have been identified, with an astronomical character, such as the one at Stonehenge. One of these is in Sarmisegetusa, which, to the surprise of archaeologists, is not so well known, although it is much more complete and represents one of the most sensational structures of this type.
According to the Spanish archaeologist, Tomas Martinez Rodriguez, Sarmisegetusa would be one of the greatest mysteries of mankind, because it was built in such a way that two of the circles of the complex would have been impossible to build without advanced technological help. One of the circles calculates the number of days required for a star to rotate around Sirius, and the second calculates the number of days required for Pluto's revolution. Both Sirius and Pluto could not be seen by the human eye until the 20th century, when the telescope was invented.
So, the question remains: how did people, a few thousand years ago, manage to see without technological help what we see nowadays with the help of a telescope?
Read about other locations from the UK: London, York or Farne Islands.
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