22/06/2022
☀ Today is the summer solstice – the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, also known as midsummer ☀
Stonehenge was carefully designed to align with the solstice, marking the extreme limits of the sun’s movements – the word solstice is derived from the Latin sol (“sun”) and sistere (“to stand still”).
The enormous sarsen stones and smaller bluestones were precisely arranged to frame two particular events in the year: the sunrise at summer solstice, and the sunset at winter solstice.
In our latest blog, Dr Susan Greaney, Senior Properties Historian at English Heritage, takes a look at Stonehenge, and explores how the summer solstice has been celebrated at the famous monument: http://ow.ly/jmLh30smr6e
🎫 Book your tickets for today – closes 17 July: http://ow.ly/USaP30smrbq
📸 Solstice 2018 © English Heritage, Sam Frost.
