Top Westminster Abbey facts about London’s iconic landmark

Westminster Abbey falls into the category of ‘Royal Peculiar’, belonging to the Sovereign instead of the Church of England. Its official name is the Collegiate Church of St. Peter in Westminster. However, in its early days, it was used by Benedictine monks as a monastery — hence the name Westminster Abbey — a nickname that has stuck around.

Westminster Abbey also hosts royal weddings. So far, there have been 17 royal weddings, the most recent of which was that of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, in 2011. Even Queen Elizabeth II (Princess Elizabeth at the time) married Prince Philip here in 1947.

The sanctuary floor is decorated with the Cosmati Pavement. Made with thousands of cut pieces of porphyry and mosaic, the pavement is believed to calculate when the world will end - in 19,683 years. Notice the brass lettering, with the date the pavement was created - 1268, where it came from - Rome, and who the ruler was at the time - Henry III.

In 1296, the Stone of Destiny, or the Stone of Scone, as known in Scotland, was brought to the abbey by Edward I to be kept under the Coronation Chair. On Christmas Eve, in 1950, 4 Glaswegian students broke into the abbey and stole the Stone. It was found later buried in a field in Kent, after which it was returned to Scotland in 1996.

Westminster Abbey is one of the oldest buildings in the country. It has been used for coronations, royal weddings, and as a final resting place for British monarchs and renowned individuals. In turn, the church’s significance to Britain’s history was formally identified when it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

Westminster Abbey was featured in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, which was quite popular and in turn, encouraged readers to see the abbey up close. But, as most fictional pieces go, the story included many inaccuracies. This meant abbey officials had to publish information sheets for tour guides and visitors correcting many of these errors.