Canterbury - Religious significance
Ruins of Saint Augustine's Abbey
St Augustine built a priory on the site of the present cathedral precincts in 597 AD. He also built an abbey outside the city walls where he was buried, as were other early Archbishops.

Canterbury Directory and Guide by Wilkopedia UK.

Canterbury - Canterbury cathedral
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. As a result of this event, Canterbury became a major pilgrimage site, inspiring Geoffrey Chaucer to write The Canterbury Tales in 1387. The Hospital of St Thomas was a place of lodging for pilgrims in the city. The city is also associated with the family of Thomas More and was the birthplace of Christopher Marlowe.
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. At the same time, the ancient religious school was refounded as the King's School.

Canterbury - More recent history
The city became a county corporate in 1461.
French Protestant refugees settled in the city during the sixteenth century: here they introduced silk-making
During World War II the city was severely damaged by bombing after it was selected as one of the cities in England to be targeted by the Luftwaffe in the Baedeker Blitz.
In 1944 the city was celebrated by film directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in their film A Canterbury Tale.
Canterbury today is a major city for tourism with Canterbury Cathedral alone attracting 1.2 million visitors a year. Canterbury still contains many ancient buildings and modern building development within the medieval town centre is strictly regulated. As of 2004 the Whitefriars area is undergoing major redevelopment and the associated archeological research is called the "Big Dig".

Canterbury is only part of the City of Canterbury District, in Kent
The local government district City of Canterbury covers an area some 13 times larger than the city of Canterbury itself, and includes Herne Bay and Whitstable. The city contains the district wards of Barton, Northgate, St Stephens, Westgate and Wincheap, plus part of the University of Kent (which straddles the city boundary) in the otherwise rural Blean Forest ward.

The south-western end of Canterbury comprises the parish of 'Thanington without', the rest of the city is unparished.

Canterbury itself is twinned with Reims in France, while the district participates in the Sister Cities programme with links to Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, USA, and Vladimir, Russia.

Canterbury - Transport
Railway
Canterbury has two railway stations, Canterbury West and Canterbury East, the services from these are operated by South Eastern Trains. Canterbury West is served primarily from London Charing Cross with limited services from Victoria as well as by trains to Ramsgate and Margate. Canterbury East is on the service from London Victoria (journey time around 88 minutes) to Dover. The West station was the earliest to be built. It was opened by the South Eastern Railway from Ashford on 6 February 1846; on 13 April the line to Ramsgate was completed. Canterbury East is the more central of the two stations, although it came later, being opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway on 9 July 1860.
Canterbury was also the terminus of the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway which was a pioneer line, opened in 1830, and finally closed in 1953. The locomotive which originally worked the line, Invicta, is displayed at the Museum.

Road
Canterbury is by-passed by the main A2 London to Dover Road. It is about 45 miles from the junction with the M25 London orbital motorway, and 61 miles from central London. The other main road through Canterbury is the A28 from Ashford to Ramsgate and Margate.
The hourly National Express coach service to and from Victoria Coach Station, which leaves from the main bus station is typically scheduled to take 110 minutes.

Canterbury - Educational establishments
The city has many students as it is home to several Higher Education institutions and other colleges. The University of Kent at Canterbury stands on a hill about two miles outside the city centre. Chaucer College is an independent graduate college for Japanese students within the campus of the University. Near the University of Kent is the Franciscan International Study Centre, a place of study for the worldwide Franciscan Order. Canterbury Christ Church University is located in the city as is one of the campuses of the University College for the Creative Arts. There is also the Further Education institution, Canterbury College.
Schools include the independent St Edmund's School and the world's oldest school The King's School.

The Postcode for the Canterbury area is CT.
The telephone area code is 01227.
The city gave its name to a musical genre known as the Canterbury sound or Canterbury scene (a subgenre of Progressive Rock).
The homeless charity the Scrine Foundation is based in Canterbury. Projects included work on the Street Life Theatre.
Some of Canterbury's famous offspring include: Christopher Marlowe, Michael Powell, Orlando Bloom and Rupert Bear.
Canterbury has three World Heritage sites. These are: Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church.