St. Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived on the coast of Kent in 597. Legend has it that Pope Gregory the Great was struck by the beauty of the slaves of England, which he saw in the slave market, so he ordered Augustine accompanied by several monks miccionerom go to England to convert the country to Christianity. King Ethelbert of Kent was married to a Frankish princess Bertha, who was already a Christian, and sympathetic to Christianity. According to other sources - the King Ethelbert asked Pope Gregory to send missionaries to Britain. Augustine was elevated to bishop and locate his episcopal throne is in Canterbury. The 602 was built Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

The key moment in the history of Canterbury Cathedral was the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket 29 December 1170. He was canonized, and Cathedral pulled pilgrims from all over Britain. It is a pilgrimage in Chaucer describes Jeffrey "Canterbury Tales."

In the following centuries the cathedral rebuilt and rebuilt many times, but part of the choir and some stained-glass windows have survived from the 12th century, when the cathedral was rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1174. Like many others like him architectural ensembles, Canterbury Cathedral is a combination of different architectural styles. The composition of the building is very complex: the Cathedral consists of many adjoined to each other buildings and chapels, surrounded by buildings of various purposes.

The oldest part of the Cathedral - East - keeps the features of Romanesque architecture and the central nave was built in the late 14th - early 15th century. Architect William English erected a beautiful chapel of the Holy Trinity, which kept cancers Thomas Becket. In the cathedral are many amazingly beautiful stained-glass windows, the earliest of which dates from 1176 year. On the stained glass windows are depicted as Bible stories and scenes of everyday life and the person actually existing people.

Later were built the tower of the cathedral, the north tower was completed only in 1832. The central tower was influenced by the French style, but located between the towers of the large window is an example of typical British architecture. On the territory of the cathedral are broken very beautiful monastery gardens with a beautiful collection of rare plants.