The Corona, Canterbury Cathedral, Side chapel in Canterbury Cathedral, England
The Corona is a side chapel at the far eastern end of Canterbury Cathedral, notable for its circular floor plan. It forms the outermost tip of the building and sits just beyond the Trinity Chapel.
The Corona was built in the 1180s to house a relic of Saint Thomas Becket, who had been murdered in the cathedral in 1170. During the English Reformation in the 1500s, the relic was removed and the chapel lost its original purpose.
The Corona was a destination for medieval pilgrims who came to venerate a relic of Saint Thomas Becket. Today visitors come here to sit quietly and take in the spare beauty of the circular space.
The Corona sits at the far end of the cathedral's eastern arm and is best visited as part of a full walk through the building. The route passes through several chapels along the way, so it helps to allow enough time to pause at each one.
Cardinal Reginald Pole, the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury before the Reformation, was buried here. He died on the same day as Queen Mary I in 1558, and his tomb remains in this chapel.
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