During my recent world tour for eighteen months, I had the opportunity to travel around the UK and Ireland. I went to visit Stonehenge, a very historic place. I always have had a fascination for historic places and have traveled extensively to see those places. I was absolutely awestruck when I saw the stone statues of Easter Island, each weighing around 90 tons. I also enjoyed seeing the Pyramids, the Sphinx and the Temples in Egypt.
Stonehenge is a place in UK which is even older than the pyramids of Giza and another of the wonders of the world. I had the opportunity to see this place in 2005, when I was traveling round the world on my long service leave. This time, in 2018, I came back to visit the place again.
I went to visit my classmate Sarwar and his wife Dahlia in Southampton. Sarwar mentioned that Stonehenge was only 40 minutes’ drive from his place and he would take me there. I happily agreed. During my travel I always try to spend time with my family and friends, wherever I can, something to look forward to. I spent a day with this beautiful family. The next day, on our way back to London, Sarwar took me to Stonehenge. I bought a ticket and went inside while Sarwar spent time in the café and around.
Stonehenge is on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, two miles west of Amesbury. This amazing monument built of huge rocks has puzzled visitors for thousands of years because no written record exists to tell us about its purpose or construction. What we know about it, has been pieced together by archeologists. The most generally accepted interpretation of Stonehenge is that of a prehistoric temple aligned with the movements of the sun.
Older than the pyramids, Stonehenge is possibly the world’s most prehistoric monument. It is the most architecturally sophisticated and only surviving linteled stone circle in the world. Over hundreds of years, Stonehenge was built in several stages. The first monument was an early henge monument, built about 5000 years ago. The unique stone circle was erected in the Neolithic period about 2500 BC. In the early Bronze Age, many burial mounds were built nearby.
Two different types of stones were used to build Stonehenge, the larger sarsen stones and the smaller bluestones. The stones were brought from long distances- bluestones from Preseli Hills over 250 km away, and the sarsens from West Woods, 25 km north of Stonehenge. The stones were dressed using sophisticated techniques and erected using precisely interlocking joints. It is amazing to think how cleverly it was done.
The weight of the large rock is equivalent to five elephants
Huge lintel on top of vertical rocks, an engineering marvel
In a later part of my world tour, I had the opportunity to see the statues of Easter Island, another ancient wonder of the world. Some of those statues weighed 90 tons. It is mind boggling to think how they moved those rocks around to build those structure in those days. The statues of Easter Island were about 1200 years old whereas the statues of Stonehenge date back to 5000 years.
The vastness and openness of the place gave me a spiritual feeling
Stonehenge is less than 150 km from London. If you get a chance to visit London you can keep Stonehenge in your bucket list. It is definitely a wonder of the world.