~Sacred Sites~

The ancient Celts adopted the sacred sites of earlier civilisation that had inhabited the land. They took over the great European megalithic structures...including standing stones, or "menhirs;" stone circles, or "henges;" groups of three stones, and a capstone forming a small chamber, known as "dolmens;" and earth..covered chambers, or "barrows"...and used them for spiritual purposes. Most megalithic structures are accurately aligned with the movements of celestial bodies, such as the sun, moon, and key constellations. This enhanced their spiritual significance when marking and observing solar and lunar festivals.
Stonehenge, whose original name was Caerdemanon, is probably the most celebrated ancient monument in the West. Nearby Glastonbury Tor was part of a major Druid college, and center of ancient Avalon, kingdom of King Arthur.
At Carnac in Brittany, France, there are over 2,600 standing stones from an estimated original 11,000, arranged in paralled lines across miles of countryside.
Newgrange in Ireland is the greatest of the European megalithic monuments. Its original name was An Uamh Greine, or "Cave of the Sun," Situated on a bend in the sacred River Boyne, it is a large chambered structure that was originally covered in quartz. The rays of the sun penetrate the long inner chamber only at the precise moment of the winter solstice. Its stones still exhibit many of the finest examples of Celtic symbolic carving.

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