Bangor (Northern Ireland)

Bangor
	Bangor Marina
Coordinates	54 ° 39 ′ N , 5 ° 40 ′ W Coordinates: 54 ° 39 ′ N , 5 ° 40 ′ W
	Bangor
	Bangor
Residents	58,388 (as of 2001)
administration
Post town	BANGOR
ZIP code section	BT19, BT20
prefix	028
Part of the country	Northern Ireland
Shire county	County Down
District	Ards and North Down
Website: www.northdown.gov.uk

Bangor ( Irish Beannchar ) is a town of about 60,000 inhabitants in Northern Ireland in historic County Down . It was the administrative center of the former North Down District , which was merged into the Ards and North Down District in 2015 . The city is now the administrative seat of the District Ards and North Down. Bangor is located around 20 kilometers east of the capital Belfast and on the south bank of Belfast Lough and has a Northern Ireland Railways station . It is a seaside resort and a sailing center.

history

In the 6th century, probably in 558, the Bangor Abbey was founded here by Saint Comgall . This became known because missionaries like St. Columban were trained in it. From this monastery, the monastic movement of the Irish Scottish Church , to which Gallus also belonged, set out for missionary work in continental Europe.

The first abbot was St. Comgall, under whose direction up to 3,000 monks found their way into the monastery. Many start-ups started here. In the 7th and 8th centuries the monastery was also a center of book production (annals, liturgical books); This is how the Benchorense Antiphonarium was created here from approx. 680 to 691 , a copy of which can be seen in the local museum ( Heritage center ). The original is now in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan .

In 824, Danish Vikings raided and looted the abbey and stole the shrine of the monastery founder. It was not until 1123 that the abbey flourished again for a short time under the abbot Malachias . In the 15th century the Franciscans and later the Augustinians moved into the buildings, but the old heyday was no longer achieved. Under English rule, monastic life came to a complete standstill. In the 16th century the abbey was closed.

Attractions

Worth seeing are u. a. the large marina , the castle with the associated castle park and the Old Custom House . The Coastal Pathway also begins in Bangor , a small paved path that runs along the coast and ends in Holywood .