Stonehenge Summer Solstice: Thousands Gather to Witness Ancient Sun Alignment and Festivities

2023-06-21 09:22:06

According to media reports, thousands of people from all over the world celebrated the summer solstice at the Stone Age monument Stonehenge in England. The BBC spoke of around 10,000 onlookers who had gathered on Wednesday morning to watch the sun rise exactly behind the entrance to the millennia-old, world-famous stone circle. The sun’s rays fall exactly in the middle of the monument.

More onlookers came this year than in 2022, when people were able to gather there once more for the first time following the corona pandemic, the BBC continued. During the pandemic, the summer and winter solstices at Stonehenge were broadcast online.

At the summer solstice on June 21st, the longest day of the year, the sun reaches the peak of its annual path. The stones at Stonehenge are precisely aligned with the position of the sun on the summer and winter solstices. The two days are believed to have been celebrated at Stonehenge in England for thousands of years.

It is still not clear what the stone colossuses of the Neolithic Age were originally intended for. Scientists suspect that Stonehenge might have served as a sanatorium or observatory, for example. People who describe themselves as heathens or druids, who are dressed accordingly with wreaths of flowers in their hair or ceremonial-looking robes and jewelry, also regularly come to the natural spectacle and celebrate modeled rituals.

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