// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Bayeux Tapestry unveiled to UK public for first time at British Museum
The Bayeux Tapestry has gone on public display in the UK for the first time since it was created nearly 1,000 years ago.
It was originally embroidered in England but kept for centuries in France, and tells the story of the Norman conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
The 70m (230ft)-long 11th Century tapestry is being loaned to the British Museum while its usual home in Normandy, France undergoes renovation.
Doors at the museum opened at 10:00 BST, with shield-wielding re-enactors in costumes from the era waiting outside.
People queued outside the museum for their chance to see the tapestry
It's a loan almost 100 years in the making, but despite some opposition in France to it being moved, the French Culture minister recently said it arrived in a "wonderful state".
History buffs arrived early en masse to catch a glimpse of the opening.
Adrian Harris told BBC News that it was a "real privilege" to be one of the first members of the public to see the tapestry in England.
"I'm not a very emotive or expressive person but I was absolutely blown away by it," he said, moments after seeing the tapestry.
He described how he was taken aback when he had an uninterrupted view of it at the top of stairs at the start of the exhibition.