Ely is a cathedral city and civil parish in the East Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about 14 miles (23 km) north-northeast of Cambridge and 80 miles (130 km) from London. The city's origins lay in the foundation of an abbey in 673 AD, one mile (1.6 km) to the north of the village of Cratendune on the Isle of Ely, under the protection of Saint Etheldreda, daughter of King Anna. St Etheldreda was a queen, founder and abbess of Ely. She built a monastery in 673 AD, on the site of what is now Ely Cathedral.
