Ely cathedral

It was a family weekend. Dave's parents arrived in England and will stay for 4 weeks. They plan on touring England during the week and going on trips with us on the weekends. So be prepared to read from England short-trips from me during the next blogs.
Our first trip let us to Ely. As most English towns the main attraction there is the cathedral. And this is exactly what we visited first. You want to learn a little bit about the history? Okay, I try to give a short overview:
It all started with the Saxon princess Etheldreda, who was born AD630 near Newmarket (not too far away from Ely). She knew that God wanted her to live a religeous life. For political reasons she had to marry twice, but during the whole time she maintained her virginity! Her second husband gave her Ely Island (an island in the Fenns) as a gift. The same husband eventually released her from the wedding vow and she moved to Ely island and in 673 she founded a monastery for monks and nuns. This monastery was built at the spot of the current cathedral and Etheldreda became the first Abbess there.
She died on June 23, 673 from a throat tumour. When the tomb was opened in 695 her body was found well preserved and the tumour healed.
After 200 years the monastery was destroyed by the Danes and refounded as a Benedictine community in 970.
Work on the current building started in the 11th century and the in 1109 the church became a cathedral. In 1539 Henry VIII dissolved the monastery and Etheldreda's shrine was destroyed. So were a lot of carvings and stainless glass. In 1541 the cathedral was refounded as the King's School.

Enough information? I hope you got some ideas about the long history. After visiting the cathedral we walked around Ely. As so often we tried (and finally managed) to find a geocache that showed us many interesting places around town.
Enjoy some more pictures on flickr (as always).