For almost a millennium, a spectacular visual chronicle of British history has remained on the far side of the English Channel, in Normandy. The Bayeux Tapestry—a Romanesque-style textile artwork that is 230 feet long and populated with 58 scenes, 626 characters, and 202 horses—is a masterwork long studied by scholars and even British schoolchildren, but it hasn’t been in England since it was made.

That changed earlier this month, when it traveled to the British Museum on July 10 as part of a historic loan. While the exhibition is set to open Sept. 10, tickets to see the tapestry are already sold out through December. More tickets will go on sale in October and January.