Post by Madhatter on Oct 6, 2015 11:37:38 GMT
Bosworth Battlefield and King Richard III heritage trail make Smithsonian list
It makes the bucket list of the best sights in the 21st century put together by the internationally-renowned Smithsonian Institution.
Bosworth Battlefield and the Richard III heritage trail have been labelled one of the world’s top 25 places to see before you die.
It makes the bucket list of the best sights in the 21st Century put together by the internationally-renowned Smithsonian Institution.
A Smithsonian magazine articles puts the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre, Leicester Cathedral and the King Richard III Visitor Centre at number 12 on The 21st Century Life List.
With the strapline ‘25 great new places to see’, the trio sit alongside such wonders as gorilla trekking in East Africa, the time capsule that is Havana, Cuba, and the world’s largest cave, Han Son Doong in Vietnam.
The story reads: “Call it CSI: Leicester. Richard III, the much-maligned king, the most malignant Shakespearean villain, was killed in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth, the climactic conflict of the Wars of the Roses. For centuries it was believed that his body had been chucked into a river and never recovered.
“But stellar research published in 1986 raised the reasonably good chance that the king had been buried at Greyfriars, a long-vanished Franciscan friary then thought to be under a municipal parking lot. After another battle - this one involving bureaucracy and fundraising - archaeologists began digging at the site in 2012.
“They were delighted to find evidence of the friary’s church, then ecstatic to find a skeleton, one with battle wounds and a curved spine. After DNA and other evidence proved that those bones were royal, they were reinterred at Leicester Cathedral this past March.
“The whole saga - king, battle, historical and scientific quest - can be marked by visiting a trio of proximately placed locations: the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre to see where he died, the King Richard III Visitor Centre to see where his bones had lain in anonymity, and Leicester Cathedral to pay respects at the royal tomb.”
The mention in such monumental company has delighted those involved with helping bring the last Plantagenet king’s story to life.
The Very Reverend David Monteith, Dean of Leicester said: “It is thrilling that we have been ranked 12th among some of the most extraordinary new places in the world to visit.
“Richard III’s discovery and his reburial with dignity and honour continues to draw visitors. They see what we often miss - namely that this story is extraordinary and it continues to fire the imagination and reveal new things.
“We are looking forward to welcoming the world.”
Interest in King Richard III has spiralled since his remains were found and soared even more since his globally-feted reinterment this spring.
Around 23,000 visited the cathedral where the monarch now rests during the five days of reinterment commemorations while numbers peaked in April at 38,785, dropping during the summer but rising again to 24,646 in August.
This year with the 530th anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth actually falling on the historical day - August 22 - the two-day re-enactment event scored record attendances with numbers up 20% on last year.
The Smithsonian Magazine is a publication of the Smithsonian Institution which was established in 1846 with money from the estate of British scientist James Smithson “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge” and is now a group of museums and research centres administered by the United States government.
www.hinckleytimes.net/news/local-news/bosworth-battlefield-king-richard-iii-10165571
It makes the bucket list of the best sights in the 21st century put together by the internationally-renowned Smithsonian Institution.
Bosworth Battlefield and the Richard III heritage trail have been labelled one of the world’s top 25 places to see before you die.
It makes the bucket list of the best sights in the 21st Century put together by the internationally-renowned Smithsonian Institution.
A Smithsonian magazine articles puts the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre, Leicester Cathedral and the King Richard III Visitor Centre at number 12 on The 21st Century Life List.
With the strapline ‘25 great new places to see’, the trio sit alongside such wonders as gorilla trekking in East Africa, the time capsule that is Havana, Cuba, and the world’s largest cave, Han Son Doong in Vietnam.
The story reads: “Call it CSI: Leicester. Richard III, the much-maligned king, the most malignant Shakespearean villain, was killed in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth, the climactic conflict of the Wars of the Roses. For centuries it was believed that his body had been chucked into a river and never recovered.
“But stellar research published in 1986 raised the reasonably good chance that the king had been buried at Greyfriars, a long-vanished Franciscan friary then thought to be under a municipal parking lot. After another battle - this one involving bureaucracy and fundraising - archaeologists began digging at the site in 2012.
“They were delighted to find evidence of the friary’s church, then ecstatic to find a skeleton, one with battle wounds and a curved spine. After DNA and other evidence proved that those bones were royal, they were reinterred at Leicester Cathedral this past March.
“The whole saga - king, battle, historical and scientific quest - can be marked by visiting a trio of proximately placed locations: the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre to see where he died, the King Richard III Visitor Centre to see where his bones had lain in anonymity, and Leicester Cathedral to pay respects at the royal tomb.”
The mention in such monumental company has delighted those involved with helping bring the last Plantagenet king’s story to life.
The Very Reverend David Monteith, Dean of Leicester said: “It is thrilling that we have been ranked 12th among some of the most extraordinary new places in the world to visit.
“Richard III’s discovery and his reburial with dignity and honour continues to draw visitors. They see what we often miss - namely that this story is extraordinary and it continues to fire the imagination and reveal new things.
“We are looking forward to welcoming the world.”
Interest in King Richard III has spiralled since his remains were found and soared even more since his globally-feted reinterment this spring.
Around 23,000 visited the cathedral where the monarch now rests during the five days of reinterment commemorations while numbers peaked in April at 38,785, dropping during the summer but rising again to 24,646 in August.
This year with the 530th anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth actually falling on the historical day - August 22 - the two-day re-enactment event scored record attendances with numbers up 20% on last year.
The Smithsonian Magazine is a publication of the Smithsonian Institution which was established in 1846 with money from the estate of British scientist James Smithson “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge” and is now a group of museums and research centres administered by the United States government.
www.hinckleytimes.net/news/local-news/bosworth-battlefield-king-richard-iii-10165571
