Such a vivid and memorable character of the English epic as the beautiful lady Godiva, of course, could not but inspire artists, writers and musicians. There are many known works based on this beautiful legend. The feast in honor of Lady Godiva has become the hallmark of the city of Coventry.
Coventry is located in the heart of England, in the West Midlands. It is a fairly large city and an important cultural center in Great Britain. There are enough tourists here all year round, so the hotel business is well developed: you can find luxurious rooms and very inexpensive rooms in hostels and two-star hotels. You can book rooms in advance via the Internet.
Coventry, home to the Lady Godiva Festival, is located at the center of the intersection of many highways, so you can get here from different parts of the country. The M6 motorway leads from London to Birmingham, it passes just north of the city you need. M40 - To the south, to the east is the busy M1 highway, which connects Leeds and the capital of England.
The closest passenger airport to Coventry is Birmingham Airport, 20 kilometers to the west. Planes fly here from all over Europe, Asia and America. You just need to clarify the dates of departure from Russian cities and book a ticket. You can also come to the festival by train, which goes from London to Birmingham.
The holiday of Lady Godiva began to be celebrated in 1678 by the inhabitants of the ancient English town of Coventry. This festival is still held annually on the 10th of July. At the carnival in honor of Lady Godiva, a lot of music and songs of those times sound, and in the evening fireworks are arranged.
All festival participants must be dressed in 11th century costumes, some daring participants put on Eve's outfit and hide behind their long golden curls. In this form, they begin the procession on horseback, starting from the ruins of the cathedral and continuing along the route that, according to legend, was laid by Lady Godiva herself.
The guests of the carnival compete in various contests, the most popular of which is “The Best Lady of Godiva”. All women and girls dressed in 11th century costumes (or no costume at all) and with long golden beautiful hair can take part in this competition.
According to some reports, the events that served as the basis for the emergence of the legend took place on July 10, 1040. In written sources, history was first mentioned in 1188 by a monk of the monastery of Saint Alban. In the 13th century, King Edward I wanted to know more about these events, then it was established that they occurred in 1057.
According to legend, the city of Coventry suffered from too high taxes. The beautiful wife of Count Leofric, Godiva, tried to persuade her husband to lower the wages, but he did not agree for a long time. At one of the many feasts, the lady again began to beg her husband to reduce the burden for the people, he, being very drunk, agreed, but under one strange condition - his wife had to ride naked on a horse through the streets of the city.
To the surprise of Count Leofrica, Godiva agreed. The inhabitants of the whole city were very fond of their countess, so on the day when the lady had to fulfill her part of the agreement, the streets were empty, and the shutters on the windows were slammed shut. No one, except her husband, saw Godiva walking naked around the city. The count, for his part, also kept his word, taxes were reduced.
