Avebury is a small town surrounded by a Neolithic stone circle. It is probably the only such connection in the world. Until today, about 30 out of more than 100 boulders have been preserved in their entirety, and the history of this place can be found in the local museum.
The greatest attraction of Avebury are the Stone Circles, which were created around 2600 BC. Today, the outline of the largest outer circle is visible, consisting of boulders weighing approx. 400 tons. The smaller, inner circles were destroyed during the construction of the village and only single stones remain.
In the Saxon times, a monastery was built inside the circles to scare away the evil forces that haunted this place. In time, the inhabitants of the village established by the monastery began to use boulders as a source of building material. This happened until the accident, which resulted in a local medical examiner being crushed by a huge stone. At that time, the exploitation of the boulders was stopped and many of them were covered with earth. The memory of the circle was restored only in the interwar period by Alexander Keiller. In order to conduct research on the circle, he bought the entire town and started work. Thanks to them, it was possible to save the outline of the outer circle.
Alexander Keiller's efforts to save the Avebury Circles also attracted other scientists to their attention. Today they are protected but generally available. An exhibition on this site can be viewed at the Alexander Keiller Museum.
Avebury itself is a picturesque village with historic buildings. There are, among others, gothic church of St. James and the 16th century Avebury Manor Manor and Garden.
