Westminster Abbey, England
Westminster Abbey, formerly known as the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is a huge, primarily Gothic abbey church located in the City of Westminster, London, England, immediately west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the most famous ecclesiastical buildings in the United Kingdom, as well as the traditional place of coronation and burial for English and later British monarchs. Since William the Conqueror's coronation in 1066, all English and British monarchs have been crowned in Westminster Abbey. Since 1100, the Abbey has hosted sixteen royal weddings.
The church was built as part of a Benedictine abbey that was dissolved in 1539. It thereafter served as the Diocese of Westminster's cathedral until 1550, and then as a second cathedral of the Diocese of London until 1556. In 1556, Mary I restored the abbey to the Benedictines, and Queen Elizabeth I constituted it a royal peculiar—a church that reports directly to the sovereign—in 1559.
More than 3,300 people are buried in the Abbey, most of whom are famous in British history: at least 16 monarchs, eight prime ministers, poets laureate, actors, scientists, military commanders, and the Unknown Warrior—Geoffrey Chaucer was the first person buried in the Abbey's Poets' Corner in 1400. As a result, Westminster Abbey is frequently referred to as "Britain's Valhalla," after Norse mythology's legendary hall of the chosen heroes.
Location: Dean's Yard, London, SW1, England
