Thousands of revellers gathered near Stonehenge early on Tuesday to watch the sun peek above the ancient stone circle at the start of the summer solstice.
According to conservation group English Heritage, about 21 000 people, some of them self-styled druids, saw the sun rise at 4.58am (03.58 GMT) as drummers beat out a welcome to the longest day in the northern hemisphere year.
The summer solstice was sacred to the pagan Britons who built Stonehenge thousands of years ago, long before Britain was converted to Christianity. Modern Britons interested in reviving some pagan traditions gather at the site every year to mark the occasion, along with other partygoers and spectators.
Stonehenge, 130km southwest of London, was opened to the public for the summer solstice in 2000, after being closed following violence between police and revellers in 1985.
Wiltshire Police reported a peaceful event this year, with just eight arrests, all of them minor offences.
”The general behaviour of those attending this year’s summer solstice at Stonehenge was exemplary,” said Jacqui Broadbridge, a spokesperson for the force.
At the Avebury stone circle, about 130km west of the capital, about 1 000 spectators gathered for similar sunrise ceremonies, said the National Trust, another conservation body.
Stonehenge — the remnants of the last in a sequence of circular monuments built between 3000 BC and 1600 BC — is one of Britain’s most popular tourist attractions and a spiritual home for thousands of druids and mystics.
Exactly how and why Stonehenge was built remains a mystery. Some experts believe it is aligned with the sun simply because its builders came from a sun-worshipping culture, while others believe the site was part of a huge astronomical calendar.
Also on Tuesday, more than 100 followers of Ireland’s ancient pagan ways gathered on the Hill of Tara, northwest of Dublin, to experience the solstice in a spot central to Ireland’s mythical and political origins.
”For Druids, this is like the Holy Land,” said Dawn Arrington, a druid from Phoenix, Arizona.
Annete Peard organized the Dublin event, calling herself a member of the Queen Tephi of Tara Grove of Druids.
”The Hill of Tara is special and sacred to many people and the Druids have always considered it sacred,” she said. -Sapa-AP