See photos from sunrise at Stonehenge with thousands of druids and revelers
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About 25,000 sun devotees and other revelers, including druids, pagans, hippies, locals and tourists, showed up, according to English Heritage which operates the site. More than 400,000 others around the world watched a livestream.
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'This morning was a joyous and peaceful occasion with the most beautiful sunrise,' said Richard Dewdney, head of operations at Stonehenge. 'It is fantastic to see Stonehenge continuing to enchant and connect people.'
Stonehenge was built in stages 5,000 years ago on the flat lands of Salisbury Plain approximately 75 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of London. The unique stone circle was erected in the late Neolithic period about 2,500 B.C.
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Some of the so-called bluestones are known to have come from the Preseli Hills in southwest Wales, nearly 150 miles (240 kilometers) away, and the altar stone was recently discovered to have come from northern Scotland, some 460 miles (740 kilometers) away.
The site's meaning has been vigorously debated. Theories range from it being a coronation place for Danish kings, a druid temple, a cult center for healing, or an astronomical computer for predicting eclipses and solar events.
The most generally accepted interpretation is that it was a temple aligned with movements of the sun — lining up perfectly with the summer and winter solstices.
A man touched the stones at Stonehenge on Saturday. It's one of the few days when visitors have access to the site.
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The crowd at sunrise.
Finnbarr Webster/Getty
Medical responders attended to a visitor during hot temperatures.
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Visitors were dressed for the occasion.
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Stones and phones for the sunrise through the monument.
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The stones have been there for thousands of years. Why they are there is their secret.
Finnbarr Webster/Getty
A variety of people were at the site about 90 miles southwest of London.
Finnbarr Webster/Getty
The sky cooperated, with clouds overhead but clear light on the horizon.
Finnbarr Webster/Getty
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