Canterbury became a Roman administrative centre: it lays at the junction of three roads from their ports of Regulbium (Reculver), Dubris (Dover) and Lemanis (Lympne); and it stood on what has become known as Watling Street. The city walls and one of the city gates remain.The name Canterbury derives from the Old English Cantwarebyrig, meaning "fortress of the men of Kent".
Canterbury Cathedral is the burial place of King Henry IV and of Edward the Black Prince, but is most famous as the scene of the murder of Thomas a Becket in 1170.
St Augustine's Abbey was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by Henry VIII, although ruins remain. During this time the Church of England separated from Rome. Canterbury became the centre of the new Church of England, although a Catholic shrine remains.
