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| Westminster Abbey |
The Westminster Abbey, where Prince Williammarried Kate Middleton Friday, has a 1,000-year-old history and has seen 15 weddings till date.
It is also the final resting place of 17 monarchs.
Benedictine monks first arrived at the site in the 10th century and started a tradition of daily worship that continues to this day, according towestminster-abbey.org.
The abbey was established by King Edward the Confessor, whose death in 1066 led to the Norman conquest.
Its victor, the first King William, was crowned here on Christmas Day that year and every English and British coronation has been held in the abbey since then, Sky News reported.
The construction of the present church was begun by Henry III in 1245.
However, this will be only the 15th royal wedding to be celebrated in the abbey. The first was when King Henry I married a Scottish princess in 1100.
The abbey was designed to house coronations by Henry III as he wanted it to be bigger than the French coronation church at Reims.
That is why the roof is 102 feet high, making it the highest in Britain.
The first royal wedding in the rebuilt abbey was for Henry III's son, Prince Edward "Crouchback" and Aveline de Forz, whose tombs lie close to where William and Kate said their vows.
The holiest site of the abbey is the burial mound on which the shrine of St. Edward the Confessor is surrounded by the tombs of kings Henry III and V, Richard II and Edward I and III.
William and Kate signed the registers here that formally recorded and legally affirmed that the marriage took place.
It is also the final resting place of 17 monarchs.
Benedictine monks first arrived at the site in the 10th century and started a tradition of daily worship that continues to this day, according towestminster-abbey.org.
The abbey was established by King Edward the Confessor, whose death in 1066 led to the Norman conquest.
Its victor, the first King William, was crowned here on Christmas Day that year and every English and British coronation has been held in the abbey since then, Sky News reported.
The construction of the present church was begun by Henry III in 1245.
However, this will be only the 15th royal wedding to be celebrated in the abbey. The first was when King Henry I married a Scottish princess in 1100.
The abbey was designed to house coronations by Henry III as he wanted it to be bigger than the French coronation church at Reims.
That is why the roof is 102 feet high, making it the highest in Britain.
The first royal wedding in the rebuilt abbey was for Henry III's son, Prince Edward "Crouchback" and Aveline de Forz, whose tombs lie close to where William and Kate said their vows.
The holiest site of the abbey is the burial mound on which the shrine of St. Edward the Confessor is surrounded by the tombs of kings Henry III and V, Richard II and Edward I and III.
William and Kate signed the registers here that formally recorded and legally affirmed that the marriage took place.
