A comparative description of some ancient British towns.

Great Britain is a country of great history, rich in important events and entertaining legends connected with them. British people are proud of their history and relics of the old times have been carefully preserved. Ancient British towns still keep mysterious traces of the past. I want to tell you about 4 of them, which I believe stand out among others to some extent because they have a great number of peculiarities. They are: Salisbury, Caernafon, Durham and Liverpool.

First of all these towns differ in their origin. Salisbury and Caernafon were started by the Romans, while Durham was founded by the Normans, as for Liverpool, it is the youngest of the 4 and it developed in the 18^th and 19^th centuries as Britain major Atlantic port. None of the 4 but only Durham can be proud of its own university, which is England's third oldest university after Oxford and Cambridge.

And just Liverpool can be called a cosmopolitan city, as to the anger of Irish and Welsh, it has been called "the real capital of Ireland" and "the real capital of Wales», because of the large number of citizens of Irish and Welsh descent. Besides Liverpool is the only of the 4 which was a centre for ships taking part in the infamous slave trade. However, in spite of the obvious differences in origin, population and location, these towns have quite much in common.

First of all, three of the towns (Salisbury, Durham, and Liverpool) are cathedral towns.

The cathedral of Salisbury is one of the most striking features of the town. It is thought to be one of the most beautiful in Europe. Its spire is 404 feet high, making it the tallest church in the Britain.

The cathedral of Durham has been called the finest Norman building in Britain, if not in Europe.

Liverpool can boast of two 20^th century cathedrals: one Church of England, the other Roman Catholic. The Catholic Cathedral is one of the few in the world built with an underground car park.

As for Caernafon, it possesses one of the finest surviving castles in Britain, which has become world famous because every Prince of Wales is invested here.

As you see Salisbury, Caernafon and Durham are very ancient towns, and they are mostly famous for their historic buildings, but life is changing and now all of them are also market centres for the surrounding areas.

Moreover, all the 4 towns are real tourist attractions and they have much to offer to their visitors besides their famous historic buildings.

Salisbury is also famous for Stonehenge. This great circle of standing stones is just 10 miles north-west of the city.

Caernafon is a tourist centre for the Snowdonia National Park, which is a favourite with walkers and climbers. Besides sea and river fishing are both excellent, which adds to the town's attractions. Highlights of Durham include its famous university and cathedral, and although it is surrounded by coal mining villages, it has remained reasonably quiet and beautiful.

Liverpool's most famous inhabitants are probably John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. (The Beatles) and Liverpool has built a 1 million pound "Beatles Museum". Besides its fame in the world of football is as widespread as its fame in pop music, with Liverpool Football club being the most successful European team of the late 70s and early 80s, winning the European Cup 3 times.

Thus I think these towns contribute greatly to the development of the country. They are of great historical value and of course of great economical value as tourist centres. The history coexists side by side with contemporary life there, proving that these towns have stood the test of time and deserve to be worshipped by the coming generations like sacred places.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14