Shell Grotto - one of the most fascinating secrets of Great Britain

One of the unusually strange, beautiful and incredible places in the UK is the Shell Grotto. Unlike Big Ben, Stonehenge and other sights of the country, the Shell Grotto, although less known, but perhaps even more grandiose!

Just imagine, about 20 meters of the underground tunnel is completely, up to the smallest centimeter, lined with shells.

The total number of shells left for decoration reaches about 4.6 million pieces! Shells of mussels, clams, oysters, selected by size and arranged by color, show the complexity and laboriousness of the work done.

Shells are planted directly on the mortar.

The shell grotto was found by chance. In 1835, in the city of Margate, James Newlaw, digging an artificial pond for ducks, discovered an underground passage. What he saw struck him.

Three years later, having equipped the find with gas lamps, he began to let visitors in. It turned out to be quite a few.

We can say that the whole city of Margit pulled a lucky ticket: until now, its population works mainly in the field of servicing the flow of tourists from around the world!

Almost immediately, heated debates began about the origin and destination of this tunnel. It is believed that the Phoenicians made it, which is indirectly confirmed by the name of the county where the shell grotto is located. County of Kent (Canthia) - its name comes from the name of the Phoenician goddess Tanit.

The Phoenicians synthesized many rites in their religion: Semitic, Neolithic and Egyptian cults mixed and transformed into a single cult of the Sun and Venus.

It is also possible that the Shell Grotto is a secret place for meetings and rites of the Templars.

Radiocarbon analysis was not justified in dating the construction of this structure, so that no one can prove or refute any of the theories.

Incredible panels depict flowers, the sun, snakes, stars, grapes. Abstract patterns cause an explosion of fantasy, you can see anything in them.

The grotto consists of a winding tunnel and an altar room in which there is a solar calendar.

The soot from Victorian lamps damaged part of the attraction, and an explosion during the Second World War destroyed the wall of the altar room.

However, restoration work has now been carried out, and anyone can get a grand impression of this place.

Watch the video: Amazing Shell Grotto - Margate, England (May 2024).