Stonehenge’s New Visitors’ Center

  • A 360-degree virtual display of the ancient rocks.

    A 360-degree virtual display of the ancient rocks.

  • Stonehenge is thought to date back to 2200 B.C.

    Stonehenge is thought to date back to 2200 B.C.

  • An aerial view of Stonehenge.

    An aerial view of Stonehenge.

  • A new visitors pavilion now cuts a dramatic form across the English countryside.

    A new visitors pavilion now cuts a dramatic form across the English countryside.

  • Matchstick-like pillars mark this ultra-modern building.

    Matchstick-like pillars mark this ultra-modern building.

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Stonehenge’s one million annual visitors are set to receive a warm welcome upon arrival at the World Heritage–listed site in Wiltshire, England. Thought to date to 2200 B.C., the prehistoric assemblage of megaliths and burial mounds now counts an ultra-modern visitors’ center among its attractions, located two kilometers from the stone circle. Some US$44 million and 11 years in the making, the pavilion of glass and weathered chestnut cuts a dramatic form across the English countryside, its gently undulating roof held up by matchstick-like pillars. Inside, visitors can explore a 360-degree virtual display of the ancient rocks as well as hundreds of artifacts, including the reconstructed head and skeleton of a 5,500-year-old Neolithic man that was excavated from a nearby barrow. –Natasha Dragun

This article originally appeared in the February/March 2014 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“Center Stage”).

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