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Ely, Cambridgeshire

City of Ely
Ely Cathedral 3.jpg
West façade of Ely Cathedral from Palace Green, the former village green
City of Ely is located in Cambridgeshire
City of Ely
City of Ely
City of Ely shown within Cambridgeshire
Area 23 sq mi (60 km2
Population 20,256 
• Density 881/sq mi (340/km2)
OS grid reference TL5379
Civil parish
  • Ely
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town ELY
Postcode district CB6, CB7
Dialling code 01353
Police Cambridgeshire
Fire Cambridgeshire
Ambulance East of England
EU Parliament East of England
UK Parliament
Website Visit Ely
List of places
UK
England
CambridgeshireCoordinates: 52°24′N 0°16′E / 52.40°N 0.26°E / 52.40; 0.26

Ely (Listeni/ˈli/ EE-lee) is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles (23 km) north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles (129 km) by road from London. Æthelthryth (also known as Etheldreda) founded an abbey at Ely in 673; the abbey was destroyed in 870 by Danish invaders and was rebuilt by Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester, in 970. Construction of the cathedral was started in 1083 by a Norman abbot, Simeon. Alan of Walsingham's octagon, built over Ely's nave crossing between 1322 and 1328, is the "greatest individual achievement of architectural genius at Ely Cathedral", according to architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner. Building continued until the dissolution of the abbey in 1539 during the Reformation. The cathedral was sympathetically restored between 1845 and 1870 by the architect George Gilbert Scott. As the seat of a diocese, Ely has long been considered a city; in 1974, city status was granted by royal charter.


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