The Tower of London

LONDON

“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”

Samuel Johnson (1709 – 1784)

Today, more than 200 years later, Johnson’s words still ring true. There are few places that offer such a variety of sights, entertainments, educational and business opportunities, world-famous museums and theatres, and superb shopping.

London draws people from all over the world. Some come on business, some come to study, to work or on holiday. London is naturally a very English city, yet it is the least typical of Britain as it is very cosmopolitan, containing goods, food and entertainment, as well as people, from many countries of the world.

London spreads its influence over much of the southern areas of England; it gives work to millions of people who live not only in the inner-city areas but in surrounding districts. Some people even commute over 100 miles (over 150 km) every day to work in London.

There is much in London which fascinates visitors and inspires the affection of Londoners: the splendour of the royal palaces and the Houses of Parliament, the dignity of

St. Paul’s Cathedral and many monuments, the fine architecture of numerous historic buildings, and the beautiful parks.

London shows examples of buildings that express all the different areas of its history, it manages in a unique way to reflect its past and at the same time to fulfil the functions of a modern city with its commercialism and bustle.

Some facts about London

London is really three cities: the City of London, the City of Westminster, the City of Southwark.

Traditionally London is divided into: the City, the West End, Westminster and the East End.

London has got a population of about 8 million people. That is 13 per cent of Britain’s population.

London stands on the River Thames. There are 27 bridges over the Thames in London and 8 tunnels under the river. London is 46 kilometres from north to south and 58 kilometres from east to west.

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the Sovereign. The daily ceremony of the Changing of the Guards takes place in its courtyard. The palace was built in 1703 by the Duke of Buckingham. King George III bought the palace in 1761. It is now the official home of Queen Elizabeth and the British Royal Family. There are nearly six hundred rooms in the palace and three miles of red carpets.

Buckingham Palace is like a small town, with a police station, two posts offices, a hospital, a bar, two sport clubs, a disco, a cinema and a swimming pool. Two men work full time to look after the 300 clocks. About 700 people work for the Palace.

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus has become an important meeting point – for traffic as well as sightseers. At its heart is a bronze fountain topped by a figure of a winged archer, popularly known as Eros (sometimes called The Angel of Christian Charity, but intended to be Anteros), the pagan god of love.

The majority of London’s places of entertainment are concentrated around Piccadilly Circus. This area is now famous for its theatres, clubs and shops.

The name Piccadilly stems from a 17^th century dressmaker who lived in the area and created a frilled collar called a ‘piccadil’.

Whitehall

Whitehall is a street in central London running from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament and containing many important buildings and government offices: the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices, the Treasury, Admiralty and Ministry of Defense. In the center of the roadway stands the Cenotaph, the memorial to the fallen of both world wars. The Prime Minister’s residence at No. 10 Downing Street is directly connected to Whitehall.

Its name originates from the former Palace of Whitehall which stood here until eighteenth century, and which was the principal center of court life in Tudor and Stuart times.

Westminster

The two houses of Parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, meet in the Palace of Westminster. It was designed in the Gothic style by the architect Sir Charles Barry and built between 1840 and 1860. The original Palace of Westminster had been a home for the Royal Family until the 16^th century. Then it became the meeting place for the Parliament. There was a terrible fire in 1834 and most of the original Palace was burnt.

Westminster Abbey was a Norman church of the Benedictine monks in Westminster. The present building in the English Gothic style was started in 1245 by King Henry III. Westminster Abbey is a very important church. Nearly all the English kings and queens since William the Conqueror (1027 – 1087) were crowned in Westminster Abbey. In 1952, Queen Elizabeth was crowned there.

The Tower of London

The Tower of London was begun by William the Conqueror as a fortress and palace. Later kings made it larger and stronger, and kept soldiers, armour, weapons, treasure, and sometimes important prisoners there.

It was not until 1850 that the Tower became a tourist attraction.

For nine centuries the Tower has kept watch over London and the River Thames.

At the center of the Tower of London there is the White Tower (1078). This tower is nearly 30 metres high. The walls are very strong. At the bottom of the tower, the walls are nearly 5 metres thick.

During the reign of King Henry III (1216 – 1272) a wall and more towers were built. The next king Edward I (1272 – 1307) built the second wall, outside Henry III’s wall, and dug the moat.

The palace at the Tower had its own zoo. It began when Henry III was given three leopards by the German Emperor, a polar bear by the King of Norway, and an elephant by the King of France.

Soon it became a tradition that there should always be lions at the Tower, for heraldic lions appear in the Royal arms of England.

In 1834 the Tower Zoo was closed, and some of the animals were sent to a new London Zoo in Regent’s Park.

The Tower of London has a grim history. It was a fortress, a royal house, a church, a prison, an arsenal and a mint.

For many famous people the Tower was a prison.

Thomas More, the saint and martyr, Queen Ann Boleyn, the second wife of

King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Raleigh, the traveler and the friend of Queen Elizabeth I, all spent time as prisoners in the Tower.

Today the Tower is home for one hundred and fifty people, including the Tower officers, the Yeoman Warders and their families. In fact the Tower is rather like the traditional English village.

The ravens are certainly among the most important residents in the Tower, for – so the story goes – if they ever leave, the Tower will fall and England with it.

The City of London

The City of London is the financial powerhouse of the country and one of the chief commercial centres of the western world.

The City has its own Lord Mayor, its own government and its own police force. Here the medieval buildings stand side by side with modern steel and glass high-rise modern blocks. The territory of the City of just over one square mile contains several banks, including the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange and offices of many financial companies.

The parks

The parks of London provide a welcome contrast to the great built-up areas.

St. James’s Park, Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington gardens are linked together. They form 313 hectares of open parkland in the heart of London.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1063