Glastonbury Tor
51.144722222222 - 2.6986111111111Koordinaten: 51 ° 8 ' 41 " N, 2 ° 41' 55 " W
Glastonbury Tor (Celtic: Twr Avallach; gate means mountain, earth) is a 158 m high, teardrop-shaped hill at Glastonbury (England). Tor is a word of Celtic origin, the " conical hill " means. The hill has a striking location in the middle of a level, the Summerland Meadows, part of the Somerset Levels. The plane is made reclaimed marshland, from the gate of the island-like projects, but actually forms a peninsula, which is circled by three sides by the River Brue. The remains of the village were discovered in 1892, by which it could be shown that a Celtic settlement already took place around 300-200 BC. The village was an easily defended island in the bog. Earthworks and Roman remains prove later occupation. From the British these spots Ynys yr Afalon seems to have been called, perhaps, the Avalon of Arthurian legend.
The slopes of the gate on a regular basis from terraced. Some believe that this form are the remains of an ancient, perhaps Neolithic sacred labyrinth, while others keep the terraces for natural furrows formed anywhere on grassy slopes of generations of grazing animals that disappear only slowly when the grass cover is not destroyed.
The gate is maintained by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty. A replica was part of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Among other things, the flags of the participating nations space found on the hill.
History
Some Neolithic flint tools were found on the top of the hill. There is evidence of wooden huts from the Celtic and Roman periods. The Celtic name of the gate was Ynis Witrin, ie glass island. At this time the plain was flooded, the island was at low tide to the peninsula.
Remains of a fortress from the 5th century were found on the gate. This was replaced by the medieval church of St. Michael's, which until 1275 there. A second church, built in the 1360s, was only up to the Dissolution of the Monasteries 1539. The ruins of the tower of St. Michael's was restored in modern times.
Mythology
In Celtic mythology, the goal has been associated with Gwynn fab Nudd in conjunction, the supreme god of the underworld and later King of the Feenvolkes Tylwyth Teg. From the gate, it was believed he was the entrance to Annwn or Avalon, the land of fairies. The mystical significance of the place continued in the Middle Ages, as here, an annual gate Fair was celebrated. Later the gate, were brought the fortification from the 5th century and the name Avalon with the legendary King Arthur in conjunction.
Geology
The gate was fed by the waters of the iron-containing Chalice Well, a source that existed millions of years, the sandstone around impregnated with iron oxides and also cared for a growing height. When the surrounding soft sandstone was eroded slowly, Glastonbury Tor had assumed his form.