Westminster Abbey is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United Kingdom's most notable religious buildings and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. 

The building itself was a Benedictine monastic church until the monastery was dissolved in 1539. Between 1540 and 1556, the abbey had the status of a cathedral. 

Since 1560, the building is no longer an abbey or a cathedral, having instead the status of a Church of England "Royal Peculiar" - a church responsible directly to the sovereign.  It is more a historical site than a religious site. 

Since 1066 every royal coronation, with the exception of Edward V and Edward VIII has taken place in this church.  Many royal weddings and burials have taken place here.