London has many landmarks, but none is more popular than the Big Ben.

The real name of the tower that houses the clock is The Clock Tower. Big Ben is just the
nickname given to the largest bell in the tower, formally known as Great Bell. However, since
the nickname is much more recognizable, Big Ben has become much more commonly used.
Recently, the tower has been renamed as the Elizabeth Tower.
It is located on the side of the House of Parliament in Westminster, London.
The Big Ben Tower was built in 1859 it took nearly 13 years to build. The tower is 96 metres
high and has four identical faces. At diameter of the dial in 7 meters and length of arrows 2,7 and
4,2 meters, clock long time was considered as the biggest in the world.
In the basis of each clock`s four dials is an inscription on Latin: Domine Salvam fac Reginam
nostram Victoriam primam, which means O Lord,save our queen Victoria the first !
If you are around Big Ben for over an hour, you can hear a number of chimes and rings. The Big
Ben has one main huge bell, and four small bells. The Great Bell rings once every hour, and the
four small bells chime every 15 minutes (i.e. every quarter). and the sound can be heard for a
radius of up to 5 miles.(8km)
Even though the clock is maintained and its time is kept accurate, there have been some
incidents where the clock was inaccurate. In 1949, a flock of birds constant pecking on the
minute hand made it slow down by 4.5 minutes.
The clocks time is adjusted every year with an old British penny. If the clock is fast, a penny is
added to the pendulum, and if the clock is slow, one is removed.
According to a survey carried out in 2008, Big Ben is the UKs most popular tourist attraction.