How Stonehenge appeared. Unsolved mysteries of Stonehenge. How to get to the ancient stones? Legends of Stonehenge

17.10.2019

Stonehenge (Great Britain) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.

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Covered in secrets and legends, Stonehenge is an ancient megalith located in the south of England, in the Salisbury region, 130 km from London. This is a complex of 30 roughly hewn huge pillars and slabs of stone, stacked on top of each other in concentric circles.

The purpose of Stonehenge is still not fully understood by scientists: some consider it a temple, others consider it an astronomical observatory, some consider it a tomb, and legends say that the Atlanteans, Hyperboreans and the famous wizard Merlin performed rituals here.

This place is one of the most mysterious in the world, it is classified as an archaeological monument and is included in the UNESCO List of Protected Sites. Many tourists who want to see this wonder of the world come to Stonehenge to wander around the stones. It is forbidden to approach the structures, but at dawn or dusk you can enter the center of the circle.

Origin

The main mysteries of Stonehenge are who, how and why built such a monumental structure. Blocks of stone were hollowed out in the rock of the Presela Mountains and brought here several thousand years ago, covering a distance of 200 km!

According to a common hypothesis, the megalith was built by the ancient Celtic priests - the Druids and was used as a temple of heavenly bodies, but it does not agree with the age of the dolmens established by archaeologists - 3-5 thousand years BC. e.

Celtic legends claim that Stonehenge is the sanctuary of the wizard Merlin, which he created with the power of magic.

Another purpose attributed to the megalith is a pagan temple, where sacrifices were made to stone idols and burials were held. Scientists are still leaning more towards the version of the observatory of the ancients. Using the radiocarbon method, it was determined that the moat and earthen ramparts were made around 5000 BC. e. After that, monoliths were delivered here and they were used to make a circular stone structure with a diameter of 30 m. The mass of the largest elements reaches 50 tons, so the delivery and installation of these giants without modern technical devices is a real miracle.

Multi-ton vertical pillars are covered with huge slabs and look like a colonnade. Between themselves, they are fastened with a system of grooves and spikes, which is why the design has stood the test of time and almost did not fall apart.

There are other interesting objects not far from the complex. For example, 5 km away is the burial place of a rich man who lived during the construction of the megalith. Silbury Hill is a 40-meter artificial mound, it is also on the World Heritage Register, one of the largest in the world and the same age as Stonehenge.

stonehenge

Practical Information

Address: Amesbury, Salisbury SP4 7DE. GPS coordinates: 51.179177, −1.826284. (in English.).

How to get there: With a group tour from London (cost from 60 GBP), by rented car or by train from Waterloo station to Salisbury station, then 40 minutes by Wilts & Dorset Stonehenge Tour bus or by taxi for 25-31 GBP.

Opening hours: from 9:00 to 20:00 entry until 18:00. Ticket prices: 17.5 GBP for adults and 10.50 GBP for children. Prices on the page are for September 2018.

The majestic Stonehenge is the most famous cromlech in the world, located near the city of Amesbury in England. There are many secrets around the ancient structure, in particular, about who, when and for what purpose it was created.

The name of Stonehenge is another not fully disclosed mystery, over which disputes are ongoing to this day. The modern name in English "Stonehenge" means "stone circle", but the exact translation of the Old English word "Stanhengues" is in doubt, previously - "hanging stones".

Stonehenge - the mystery of history

The mysterious past of Stonehenge has given rise to various hypotheses about the purpose of this ancient megalith. The opinions of scientists differ and today there are 3 main versions of the appointment:

burial mound - at present, it is known about the burials of 60 people of the Neolithic era;
an ancient primitive temple - a pagan temple where rituals, celebrations and sacrifices were held;
astronomical observatory - Stonehenge is oriented with small errors according to the various stages of the movement of the Sun and Moon.

And legends say that Stonehenge, as the eighth wonder of the world, was created by magic by the famous wizard Merlin.

In terms of mystery, no less mysterious can be compared with Stonehenge.

Cromlech construction

There are as many theories around the mysterious Stonehenge as there are stones in the structure itself. It is not known exactly how old these megaliths are, it is assumed that the construction took place in 3 stages and lasted 1000-1500 years (between 3500 and 2000 BC). There is also no consensus about the builders of the cromlech: it could have been built by the Celts, Greeks or Germans. Modern calculations have shown that the creation of Stonehenge at that time required about 20 million man-hours of work. Why Stonehenge was built around 20 centuries is unknown, but it is obvious that the reason was very good.

Cromlech Stonehenge consists of small stones (up to 5 tons) and 30 large stones, weighing 25 tons each, which form a circle with a diameter of 33 meters. Inside this circle are 3 triliths, each weighing 50 tons. The height of these megaliths is from 4 to 6 meters. During the construction, blue stones were used, which were delivered from a distance of 250 km. By what means these stones were moved is another mystery.

There is another theory that Stonehenge is not an ancient structure, but a 1954 fake. There are quite a few photos on the Internet that show how stones were installed and concrete was poured. At the same time, there is a lot of evidence of the antiquity of Stonehenge.

Stonehenge is one of 900 similar stone structures discovered in the British Isles.
The most common finds in the ground under the stone ring are Roman coins of the 7th century BC. e.
Stonehenge was first mentioned in chronicles of the 12th century.
In 1915, lawyer Cecil Chubb bought Stonehenge for £6,600 but donated it to the state three years later.
At the beginning of the 20th century, visitors were not forbidden to chip off a souvenir for themselves.
Stonehenge has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986.
In 2011, the BBC filmed a 4-episode documentary film The World of Stonehenge.
Every year on the day of the summer solstice, a festival is held near Stonehenge, in which pagans and descendants of the druids (as they call themselves) take part.
About a million tourists visit Stonehenge every year.

Excursions: how to get there, work schedule, tickets

Stonehenge from London can be reached both as part of an excursion group and on one's own:

by car - heading along the M3 and A303 highways towards Amesbury;
by train - from Waterloo station to Salisbury or Andover railway station, from where buses run regularly to Stonehenge.

On the territory of the nearby tourist complex there is a cafe, a souvenir shop, toilets and parking, and you can also book an excursion here.

The address: Amesbury, Salisbury SP4 7DE, UK.

GPS coordinates: 51°10"43.9"N 1°49"34.4"W.

Opening hours (daily):

9:30 - 19:00 - from April 1 to May 31;
9:00 - 20:00 - from June 1 to August 31;
9:30 - 19:00 - from September 1 to October 15;
9:30 - 17:00 - from October 16 to March 31.

Entrance ticket price:

Adult - £15.50;
Child (5-15) - £9.30;
Student / Pension - £13.90;
Family ticket* - £40.30.

* - 2 adults and 3 children.

Attention! Ticket sales end one hour before closing. Prices are as of November 2017. When visiting Stonehenge during public hours, it is forbidden to approach the stone structure closer than 15-20 meters.

Where is Stonehenge located on the UK map

The name of Stonehenge is another not fully disclosed mystery, over which disputes are ongoing to this day. The modern name in English "Stonehenge" means..." />

Stonehenge is visited by 1 million tourists every year, but it remains a mystery. Scientists attribute its construction to Neolithic times, but for some reason the first mention of this "wonder of the world" is found only in the 11th century AD.

Who built?

Version number 1. Celts
For a long time, scientists believed that Stonehenge was built by the Celts. However, today this version has been refuted. The dates don't match. The first Celtic archaeological culture (Hallstatt) appeared in the 9th century BC. Whereas the dating of the construction of Stonehenge officially accepted today boils down to the fact that the last stage of its construction falls on the 11th century BC.

Version number 2. Ancient Britons
If not the Celts, then who? Professor Michael Pearson (University of Sheffield), head of the decade-long Stonehenge Riverside Project and author of Stonehenge: Exploring the Stone Age's Greatest Mystery, claims that the megalithic complex was built by the ancient Britons, representatives of the tribes that lived in the British Isles at the end of the Bronze Age, during the Neolithic . Today it is the most "working" version.

Version number 3. Merlin
In the Middle Ages, the legend set forth in Geoffrey of Monmouth's "History of the Britons" was popular. It lies in the fact that the megalithic complex was transferred from Ireland by the wizard Merlin. The legendary magician thus fulfilled the will of Aurelius Ambrosi (uncle of King Arthur) to perpetuate 460 British leaders who were treacherously killed by the Saxons during the negotiations. Since then, the Britons called this complex "Dance of the Giants".

Version number 4. Hoaxers

There is also a version that Stonehenge is a hoax, "worked out" in the 20th century. In 2013, an article went viral on the Internet proving that the famous Bronze Age monolith was built between 1954 and 1958.

As evidence, the author of the material cites a lot of "sensational" photographic materials, where some people use cranes to install megaliths into the ground. A theoretical "base" is also given: allegedly, the British Ministry of Defense bought up land in the Stonehenge area and conducted military exercises there until the Second World War.

During the war, the territories of nearby villages were evicted and supposedly today are under the authority of military structures. The author writes: “On the territory protected by the British military department, this “center of ancient civilization”, “the legacy of great ancestors”, “monument of humanity”, which became the most important cult center of no less purposefully planted “spirituality” was consciously and purposefully erected.

Version "hot", but baseless. What is presented in it as the construction of Stonehenge is just its restoration. We will tell you more about her.

Why did you build?

Version number 1. Observatory
To date, the generally accepted version is that Stonehenge is an ancient observatory. The authorship of this version belongs to Boston University astronomy professor Gerald Hawkins. In the late 1950s, he entered into a computer the coordinates of the plates and other parameters of Stonehenge, as well as a model of the movement of the Sun and Moon.

In 1965, the scientist wrote the book Stonehenge Deciphered, where he provided evidence that Stonehenge made it possible to predict astronomical phenomena, while being an observatory, a computing center and a calendar..

Another famous astronomer, Fred Hoyle, also dealt with the problem of Stonehenge and found that the builders of the megalithic complex knew the exact orbital period of the moon and the length of the solar year.

Version number 2. Galaxy model
In 1998, astronomers recreated a computer model of the original appearance of Stonehenge and came to the conclusion that the stone observatory is also a cross-sectional model of the solar system. According to the ideas of the ancients, the solar system consists of twelve planets, two of which are located beyond the orbit of Pluto, and one more - between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Version number 3. Ritual complex
A four-year study conducted by the Austrian Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Exploration and Virtual Archeology has established that Stonehenge is not a single megalith, but part of a huge ritual complex of 18 parts located in an area of 12 square kilometers from Stonehenge.
Surveys were carried out using remote sensing and other advanced geophysical methods.

Version number 3. "Disco"
Perhaps the most original version of the purpose of Stonehenge (if you do not take into account the alien base for humanoids) is the version that Stonehenge is an ancient "disco".
Professor Rupert Till, an expert in acoustics and music technology from the University of Huddersfield, conducted research and came to the conclusion that the gigantic stones of the complex are ideal sound reflectors. If placed in a certain order, they can produce interesting acoustic effects.

Of course, Rupert Till did his experiments (after computer simulation) not in England, but in the state of Washington, where there is an exact copy of the megalithic complex. This version, although it seems strange, does not exclude the previous one - ritual dances could be held at the temple to the accompaniment of musical instruments.

How was it built?

To shed light on how Stonehenge was built, scientists have helped the study of the materials of which it is composed. The complex is composed of three types of stones:

1) Dolerite ("blue" stone, more precisely, gray sandstone with a bluish tint)
2) Rhyolite
3) Volcanic tuff.

Stones of these rocks are found only in the mountains of Wales (210 km from Stonehenge, and taking into account the features of the relief - 380 km).

According to Stonehenge researcher Richard Atkinson, the stones were carried on wooden sledges over logs. Experiments have shown that 24 people can move a load of one ton in this way at a speed of one and a half kilometers a day.

Most of the journey was on water. The speed of movement was also facilitated by the fact that the stones were processed even before they were moved into place, using both stone tools and heat treatment for this.

According to Gerald Hawkins, to install the blocks, they first dug a pit to size, three of which were vertical, and one with a 45-degree angle, which was used as a receiving ramp.

Before setting the stone, the walls of the pit were lined with wooden stakes. Thanks to them, the stone slid down without showering the ground. The lower parts of the blocks, upholstered in the form of a blunt cone, could be rotated on their axis even after the earth had been rammed.

What's left of Stonehenge?

If you look at the picture of John Consable, written by him from life on the territory of Stonehenge in 1835, we will see piles of piled stones. This is how the legendary megalithic complex looked until the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, as we know, he has changed. Not everyone knows about it, but Stonehenge has undergone a serious and lengthy restoration.

Its first stage took place in 1901. Reconstruction continued until 1964, and information about the work was carefully concealed. When it became known to the general public, it gave rise to numerous attacks from the public and the press. There was something to be angry about. In fact, the complex was rebuilt. With the help of cranes, the restorers erected megaliths and lintels, strengthened the stones, and concreted their foundations.

By and large, Stonehenge is "no longer the same", but it is not customary to mention this in booklets. Otherwise, this most famous (but far from unique) megalithic complex would not provide an influx of 1 million thousand tourists a year.

Photo source: id.wikipedia.org

This monument of prehistoric architecture is built in the form of a circular fence of two types of hewn stone blocks, which were delivered from the Preseli Mountains to the construction site for several centuries. And the Preseli Mountains are more than 200 km from Stonehenge.

And here a legitimate question arises: how did our prehistoric ancestors manage to drag heavy boulders over such a huge distance, and, in fact, why? There are a lot of assumptions.

According to an old Celtic legend, Stonehenge was created by the wizard Merlin. It was he, the great magician, who personally transferred bulky blocks of stone from Ireland and the extreme south of England to the town of Stonehenge, which is located north of the town of Salisbury, in the county of Wiltshire, and erected there a sanctuary that survived the centuries - the most famous in the British Isles, and in everything world, megalith.

Stonehenge - history

stonehenge, we recall, is a double circular fence of large stones installed vertically. Archaeologists call this fence a cromlech. And it was built, in their opinion, between the III and II millennia before the birth of Christ - in five large stages in time.

Back in 1136, the English chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth testified that "these stones were brought from afar."

How was the construction of the megalith

But we, relying on the data of modern geology, can completely agree with him on one thing:

Part of the blocks for the construction of the megalith was indeed somehow delivered from the west, but not from the quarries closest to Stonehenge.
In addition, 80 tons of menhirs, or processed stone blocks, which were then installed in a vertical position, were brought from the southern regions of Wales, located in western England (in particular, from Pembrokeshire). And it was already at the second stage of construction, i.e. in the second half of the III millennium BC. From the Presley quarries, in southwest Wales, the so-called blue stones were transported to Stonehenge by water - at any rate, this is what the famous English archaeologist, Professor Richard Atkinson, suggests. And more precisely - by sea and rivers inland.
And finally - the final segment of the path, the "front door", which several centuries later, in 1265, received the name that has survived to this day, however, in a slightly different meaning: "avenue".

And here it is really time to admire the strength and long-suffering of the ancients.

No less admirable is the skill of stonemasons. Indeed, most of the roofing slabs of the famous dolmen, as megalithic structures such as Stonehenge are also called, weigh several tons, and the weight of many supports is several centners.

But it was still necessary to find suitable blocks, transport them to the place of future construction and install them in a strictly defined order. In a word, the construction of Stonehenge, in modern terms, was tantamount to a labor feat.

Stonehenge stones

In fact, two types of stones were used in the construction of Stonehenge: strong boulders - the so-called aeolian pillars - made of Avebury sandstone, from which triliths were made - the same dolmens, or vertical stone blocks with transverse stone slabs on top, forming the outer circle of the entire structure; and softer dolerites, which are part of the ore and coal seams.

It is a bluish-gray igneous rock similar to basalt. Hence its other name - the blue stone.

Two meters high dolerites form the inner circle of the megalithic structure.

Although the blue stones of Stonehenge are not very high, archaeologists believe that it is in them that the secret meaning of the entire structure lies.

Disputes of scientists

The first thing archaeologists unanimously agreed on was the geological origin of dolerites: their homeland is the Preseli Mountains. But about why the ancient ancestors of the Celts needed to move dolerite boulders, the opinions of scientists differed. Disputes, mainly, were caused by the following question: did people from the New Stone Age really drag the blocks with their own hands to the place where the megalith was built, or did the stones move by themselves - as the glaciers shifted in the Quaternary period, i.e. long before the advent of man?

The end of the controversy was only recently put to rest. At an international conference, glaciologists announced the results of their many years of research, which boiled down to the fact that there have never been large glacial shifts in the Stonehenge area.

So archaeologists could already conduct excavations in full confidence that the movement of megalithic blocks was the work of man. But answers to many other questions have not yet been found.

Construction stages of Stonehenge

From the Preseli Mountains to stonehenge in a straight line - 220 km. But, as you know, the direct path is not always the shortest. So in this case: taking into account the exorbitant weight of the “load”, it was necessary to choose not the shortest, but the most convenient way.

In addition, it was necessary to build the appropriate vehicles.

It is known that in the new Stone Age people were able to hollow out canoes from tree trunks - they were the main vehicle. Indeed, recently archaeologists discovered the remains of an ancient trimaran, which consisted of three seven-meter-long dugout boats fastened with crossbars.

Such a trimaran could well be controlled by six people with the help of poles. And as for the four-ton boulders, the same six rowers were able to load them onto the trimaran with the help of levers. The sea route along the gently sloping coast of Wales was the most convenient, and there were plenty of secluded bays in case of bad weather.

However, part of the way had to be overcome by land. And then hundreds of pairs of hands were required. First of all, the “load” had to be transferred to the sled and pulled along the tree trunks cleared of branches, laid across the path, like rollers. At least two dozen people dragged each block.

And one more important detail: in order to avoid autumn and spring storms, stones were transported from the beginning of May to the end of August. This required not only a huge number of working hands, but also an estimate, since the only tools in those distant times were wooden poles, stone axes and levers, not counting wooden rollers and canoes. In addition, belts - leather, linen or hemp - served as an indispensable tool.

The wheel was not yet known. People also have not yet learned to tame horses. This means that there were no carts either - they appeared much later, in the Bronze Age. Meanwhile, people of the new Stone Age already widely used bulls as a draft force. And the people themselves were united in a well-organized community.

The people who went to get the stone, of course, were guided by some great motivation: the stone miners knew that if they did not return empty-handed, then honor and glory await them, since they also make their own contribution to the construction of the sanctuary. And this, in turn, meant that they were fulfilling a sacred mission. For young men, for example, such a campaign was a kind of test preceding initiation into men.

It is not difficult to guess that the path of stone miners was long and difficult. Some of them died along the way. The waterway was especially dangerous - mainly due to storms, headwinds and currents. Moreover, the boats moved forward very slowly: after all, they were controlled, as we remember, with the help of poles or primitive rowing. However, the land route also required colossal efforts. It is understandable: moving multi-ton boulders on land is much more difficult than on water.

In autumn, blue stones were finally delivered along the river to a place located three kilometers from Stonehenge, and the stone miners returned home. And the "cargo" remained on the shore until the next summer: the stones were set invariably on the day of the summer solstice. Then, in fact, the long “sacred path” ended.

On the day of the ceremony, before sunrise, the last stage was completed: to stonehenge along a special road - "avenue" - a solemn procession was sent. This road, fourteen meters wide, was bordered on both sides by ditches and embankments. It stretched upwards in an arc, facilitating the ascent to the sacred hill, and led strictly to the east - to where the sun rises.

Some of the stones at Stonehenge form straight rows facing the rising and setting of the sun and moon. Probably, for the ancients, this was of vital importance: they had to know exactly the days when they should worship the spirits of the departed ancestors.

As we already know, the dolerites transported to Stonehenge were used in the construction of the first fence - it was erected around 2500 BC. By that time, Stonehenge was already considered an ancient monument. Five centuries earlier, the sanctuary was surrounded by a moat, enclosing it from the outside with an earthen rampart about 100 m wide.

During the third phase of construction - around 2000 BC - huge triliths were installed at Stonehenge. At the same time, 30-ton eolian pillars were delivered to the construction site - they had to be dragged 30 km from Stonehenge.

The most grandiose stage of construction began with the delivery of blue menhirs. By that time, the dolerite belt, never completed, had been demolished, probably to make way for another structure that required much more effort to erect.

So, for some four hundred years, the blue stones disappeared altogether. However, around 2000 BC, they were in the same place. And today, just by them, we can judge what kind of stonehenge in its original form.

However, not all archaeologists believe that dolerites, as a building material, disappeared for four hundred years. Their traces were found in other monumental structures of that time: for example, on Mount Silbury, the highest artificial hill of the New Stone Age, located 40 km north of Stonehenge. At its top, a fragment of dolerite was discovered, which, apparently, was once part of the cromlech.

Mystery of Stonehenge

When they began to study in detail Stonehenge and the surrounding lands, it turned out that even more ancient structures were hidden under the traces of modern civilization in the area of the "Sacred Landscape".

To the north of Stonehenge, in the Ogborn region near the village of Avebury, an even more grandiose object was discovered. This is a giant circle, bounded by a stone palisade of vertically standing monolithic slabs. In the middle of a large circle there are two more, also outlined by stones. The main circle is crossed by an alley, also marked with stone blocks.

On both sides, it cuts through the entire structure, as if going to the opposite edge of a large ring. The contours of the rings made of stone blocks are clearly visible despite the fact that a residential area was superimposed on the ancient structure. Some of the stones in Aveburi are larger than the blocks of Stonehenge, the area occupied by the rings is also incomparably larger.

Stonehenge - Silbury Hill - Aveburi form an equilateral triangle, the side of which is 20 kilometers. Apparently, all three objects formed a single whole, the corners of which are interconnected. Scientists have established that the hill and the buildings of Aveburi were erected 2000 years before Stonehenge.

And again there are conjectures, hypotheses, assumptions. What, for example, ancient symbols are associated with the circles and alleys of Stonehenge? Found an analog. Most of all, the structure resembles an ancient symbol that exists in Egypt to this day, a snake (a symbol of wisdom) crosses the solar disk. The alley, fenced with stones, crosses a large circle (symbolizing the solar disk), trimmed with a palisade of stones.

A real sensation in recent years has been made by the extraordinary activity of UFOs in this area and the appearance of a large number of pictograms in the grain fields.

It is tempting to assume that the inhabitants of distant worlds remind us of themselves and of the historical significance of Stonehenge.

Stonehenge is a giant stone mystery in the very center of Europe. Today, very little is known about its origin, purpose and history. The mystery remains how ordinary people could calculate and build such a hulk. Our review contains 15 facts about one of the most mysterious monuments in Europe.

Despite the fact that there are still disputes about who and why Stonehenge was built, scientists have a clear idea of when it was built. The oldest elements of the megalithic structure date back to 3000 BC. (then they started to dig 2-meter ditches to form the outer features of the structure). Stones began to be installed around 2500 BC, and Stonehenge finally acquired its modern appearance around 1500 BC.

2. There are special terms for discussing this kind of monuments

There are two main types of stones at Stonehenge. The large upright and arch stones are composed of sarsen, a type of sandstone that is common in the region. Smaller stones are known as "blue stones". So they were named because they acquire a bluish tint when wetted. The giant three arches that made Stonehenge famous are called triliths.

3 Some Of The Stonehenge Stones Were Delivered From Far Away

When it came time to choose the stones to build, the Neolithic builders of Stonehenge did not like the local stones. Some relatively small bluestones (which can weigh up to four tons) have been imported from the Preseli Mountains in Wales. No one knows how giant stones were delivered over 250 km.

4 Stonehenge Was Originally A Cemetery

Although the original purpose of Stonehenge's construction is still shrouded in mystery, anthropologists can say with certainty that in the period before the appearance of the first large stones, the monument served as a resting place for the remains. Currently, at least 64 Neolithic people are known to have been buried at Stonehenge.

5. The remains continued to be buried at Stonehenge and later

Most of the remains found at Stonehenge were ash. However, in 1923, archaeologists discovered the skeleton of a decapitated Anglo-Saxon man dating back to the 7th century AD. Since the man was executed, it can be assumed that he was a criminal, but his burial at Stonehenge led archaeologists to believe that he could belong to the royal dynasty.

6. Rumors about the purpose of Stonehenge are often completely ridiculous.

Stonehenge's dark past has given rise to countless theories about the monument's original use. Theories range from a Druidic temple or observatory to a solemn site for the coronation of Danish kings. More far-fetched theories suggest that Stonehenge is a model of the solar system built by ancient aliens.

7. The first written mention of Stonehenge dates back to the 12th century.

Historian and explorer Henry Huntington is believed to have made the first written mention of Stonehenge in the following passage, which dates from 1130: “Stanenge, where stones of amazing size are set in the manner of doorways ... and no one can understand how such huge blocks were able to lift, and why it was done that way.

8. In the Middle Ages, people believed that Stonehenge was created by the sorcerer Merlin

In the absence of any more compelling theories about the creation of Stonehenge, medieval Britons believed the speculation laid out by the clergy historian Geoffrey of Monmouth. He claimed that the mysterious monument was the work of the legendary sorcerer Merlin.

9 Popular Myth: The Devil Created Stonehenge

Witchcraft was not the only supernatural explanation for the appearance of the melalitic monument. The mystery surrounding the transportation of the blue stone from Wales to Wiltshire has given rise to yet another paranormal explanation: the stones were placed by the devil simply out of mischief.

10 Neo-Druid Alco Ceremony

In 1905, a group of 700 people, allegedly members of the Ancient Order of the Druids, organized a supposedly religious ceremony at Stonehenge, at which alcohol flowed like rivers. Contemporary print media gleefully ridiculed the event.

11. Visitors are not allowed to climb rocks.

The ban appeared only in 1977, when the fact of significant erosion of stones due to their contact with people was established. And at the beginning of the 20th century, tourists were given chisels to make it easier for them to chip off a souvenir for themselves.

12. Charles Darwin made interesting discoveries while studying earthworms at Stonehenge.

In his old age, Charles Darwin became interested in earthworms. One of the sections of his works is devoted to the studies of the famous naturalist at Stonehenge. In 1870, Darwin studied earthworms and stated that as a result of the activities of these animals, large stones gradually sink into the ground.

13. Stonehenge used to be a full circle

Recently, restorers noticed strange dents in the peat around Stonehenge. Scientists have suggested that these are traces of stones that once closed the ring of the monument, and sank into the ground over the centuries.

14 An Ordinary British Citizen Owned Stonehenge For Three Years

Stonehenge was the legal property of the British state for most of the last century, but would never have fallen into the hands of the government were it not for the charity of Cecil Chubb. In 1915, a millionaire bought Stonehenge for his wife as a gift for £ 6,600. However, his wife did not like the gift and three years later Chubb donated Stonehenge to the state on the condition that the monument be maintained unchanged and open to visitors.

15. In the fall of 2015, you can bet on Stonehenge

For the centenary of Chubb's landmark purchase, an interactive re-enactment of the 1915 auction called "Sale of the Century" is being held. All bets will go to the reconstruction of the monument.

Lovers of history and antiquities will be interested in and who will dispel many of the myths that existed about this monument.