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The mysterious Stonehenge, located in Amesbury, Wiltshire, in Southern England, is linked to astrology and the solstices. However, it is not truly known why it was built. The actual structure appears as many big stones that form an open-ended circle, and it is believed to have begun construction in 2800 BC and revised and re-modelled over a period of more than 2000 years.

Though people aren’t exactly sure why it was built, there are theories that it acted as an astronomical observatory or clock for predicting the seasons and other astronomical events such as the Midsummer sunrise (or Summer Solstice), and Midwinter sunset.

In the 18th century a man named William Stukeley noticed that the horseshoe shape of the stones opened up in the direction of the midsummer sunrise. He declared that this must have been deliberately planned so that on midsummer’s morning the sun’s rays shone into the center of the monument between the open arms of the horseshoe arrangement. People began to conclude that Stonehenge was constructed as a temple to the sun. However, more recently, astronomer Gerald Hawkins argued that Stonehenge was not only aligned with solar and lunar astronomical events but was also used to predict other events such as eclipses. Hawkins theory allowed the thought that perhaps Stonehenge was more than just a temple to worship the sun, it was also an astronomical calculator.

Because of this precise alignment of these massive stones, experts came to the conclusion that whoever built Stonehenge had exact astronomical knowledge of the path of the sun and moon. This was an amazing realization, because the structure was created long before telescopes and electricity were invented. Whoever had this vision figured out the sun’s path in their mind.

Though we will never know why Stonehenge was built, there is a lot of evidence that points to the sky. It still stands today and attracts visitors from around the world. Look it up online to see what it looks like, it’s truly an amazing site that will always inspire the mind to wonder how it was built and why.