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LONDON

BASIC INFORMATION:

- 1 600 sq km, 12 000 000 inhabitants (with suburbs)

- capital of the United Kingdom
- lies on the river Thames
- it includes the city of London and 32 boroughs
- seat of Monarchy, the Parliament, the Government and the Supreme Court

• 4 PARTS:

- Central London (The City of London) - the oldest part of London, now the nancial
centrum
- The City of Westminster
- The East End - many new immigrant groups live and many working people
- The West End - there are chic ships, theatres, beautiful residential areas, great parks, …
HISTORY:

- 800 B. C. there was a Celtic settlement

- the place had been occupied by Romans about 55 B. C.
- about 43 A. D. Romans established city Londinium
- in 5th century Romans left the island, but the city remained
- during the 12th century reign of Norman kings (William the Conqueror was the rst to come
in 1066) the royal court moved from Winchester, the former capital, to London for ever
- city continued to grow and soon absorbed the originally separate Westminster
- in 1665 more than 75 000 people died from a plague epidemic
- in 1666 the Great Fire of London destroyed four fths of the city
- in the later half of the 17th century Sir Christopher Wren designed and constructed about 50
churches and some other public buildings
- German bombarding during World War II caused serious damages
- since 1982 the most risky and criticized project in recent times has been the rescue and new
development of the Docklands east of the City

PLACES OF INTEREST:

• The Houses of Parliament (= New Palace of Parliament):

- The city of Westminster

- The original Palace of Westminster was a home for the royal family until the 16th century,
but there was a terrible re in 1834 and most of the original palace was burnt
- it was rebuilt between 1840 and 1860 in Gothic style
- became the seat of Parliament in 1547
- The House of Lords (consists od hereditary peers) and The House of Commons (bigger
power)

• Big Ben:

- The city of Westminster

- clock tower; it isn‘t really the name of clock, but the name of the bell
- the strikes of Big Ben is known world-wide because it is used by the BBC as a time signal

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 • Westminster Abbey:

- The city of Westminster

- was a Norman church of the Benedictine monks in Westminster - the present building in
the Gothic style was started in 1245 by King Henry III
- Nearly all the English kings and queens since William I (1027 – 1087) were crowned in
Westminster Abbey. In 1953, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned there.

• Buckingham Palace:

- The city of Westminster

- was built in 1703 by the Duke of Buckingham
- King George III bought the palace in 1761
- it is now the o cial home of Queen Elizabeth II and the British Royal Family
- there are nearly six hundred rooms in the palace

• Tower of London:

- City of London
- William the Conqueror began to build the massive fortress – the White Tower
- the inner wall, with its thirteen towers, was built in 13th century
- outer walls were added by Edward I
- the Tower served till the 16th century as a royal home, a prison, an execution site, a royal
mint and an observatory
- now there is a museum of armour and weapons and instruments of torture and
execution
- you can see the Crown Jewels in the Jewel House
- the Tower is guarded by the Yeomen Warders (incorrectly called Beefeaters) who still wear
uniform of the Tudor times
- six ravens are kept in the Tower to protect the whole Kingdom.
- The legend says that the Kingdom will die when the ravens leave the Tower

• Tower Bridge:

- City of London
- the most famous bridge in London which is raised in the middle to allow ships to pass up
the river

• St. Paul‘s Cathedral:

- City of London
- was built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1711 in Baroque style
- it stands on the site of the previous cathedral which was damaged by the Great Fire in
1666
- it is the second largest church in the world after St. Peter‘s in Rome

• Trafalgar Square:

- The city of Westminster

- the largest square in London
- its name commemorates the naval victory of Admiral Lord Nelson over the French and
Spanish eet at Spanish Cape Trafalgar in 1805
- in the middle of the square is Nelson‘s Column (about 50 m high) with statue of Horatio
Nelson at the top

• Piccadilly Circus:

- the centre of the city nightlife

- in the centre of the Circus at the top of the Fountain stands Eros, the Greek God of love
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• The National Theatre:

- the complex consists of three theatres, completed in 1976

MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES:

• National Gallery:

- it houses one of the greatest collections of paintings from the 13th to the 20th centuries
(Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Manet, Monet, El Greco, …)

• British Museum:

- antiquities from Egypt, South and South-East Asia, China, Greece, Rome and the East
- notable exhibits include the Magna Charta which limited the king;s powers in 1215,
William Shakespeare‘s folio published in 1623, the Pantenon sculptures, Egyptian
mummies, a Gutenberg Bible, Anglo-Saxon treasure, authors‘ original manuscripts
(Charles Dickens, John Lennon, …)

• London Dungeon:

- it is the world‘s rst medieval horror museum

• Sherlock Holmes Museum:

- at 221b, Baker Street where Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Waston resided

• Madame Tussauds:

- exhibition contains wax life-size models of famous people from history and today
PARKS:

• Hyde Park:

- the largest park in London

- in the centre is a lake called The Serpentine
- it has also an area called Speakers Corner – here anyone can stand on a box and speak
about anything they want, including politics and religion

• Regent‘s Park:

- London‘s most elegant park with gardens, lakes and a zoo

• London´s Eye

SHOPPING IN LONDON:

- Oxford street, Harrods,Market in Soho, Covent Garden

TRANSPORT IN LONDON:

- black taxi - cab, the Tube (LondonUnderground), red double-decker buses, river taxi, Airports
(Heathrow - the largest, Stansted, Gatwick)

SPORT IN LONDON:

- Wimbledon, football stadium

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