Best places to visit in Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, two miles (3 km) west of Amesbury. It consists of a ring of standing stones, with each standing stone around 13 feet (4.0 m) high, seven feet (2.1 m) wide, and weighing around 25 tons. The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.
Archaeologists believe it was constructed from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The surrounding circular earthworks, which cover around 26 acres (10.5 ha), have been dated to between 3100 BC and 2300 BC. Modern estimates suggest the monument was erected between 1600 and 1500 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-nomination with Avebury Henge. It is a national legally protected scheduled monument.
Stonehenge is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage; the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust. Stonehenge could have been a burial ground from its earliest beginnings. Deposits containing human bone date from as early as 3000 BC, when the ditch and bank were first dug, and continued for at least another 500 years.
The first standing stones were set in place around 2600 BC. Although the purpose of Stonehenge has been the subject of much speculation, the excavations of recent years suggest that it was constructed as a monument to the dead, and not as a temple to the gods. The site was added to the list of World Heritage Sites in 1986.
The best time to visit Stonehenge is at sunrise or sunset, when the sun aligns with the stones. The summer and winter solstices are particularly popular times to visit.
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