London and its attractions

London and its attractions

London is one of the largest commercial centers in the country, the centre of court life and political power.

London is the biggest city in Britain and one of the biggest in the world. More than eight million people live and work there. London is one of the most important cities in the world. It is the centre for business and for tourism. In London you can find some of the best theatres, cinemas and museums. There are many beautiful old churches in London. There are about 10 thousand streets in London. Most of the streets are not very wide.

The Romans came to the island Great Britain long, long time ago. They built a town on the River Thames. They called the town Londinium. The place for the town was very good. Soon the Romans built a bridge over the River Thames.

Londinium got bigger. The Romans built houses, places, roads, bridges. But in 410 the Roman legions were withdrawn from Great Britain, as the Goths were at the gates of Rome and the Romans rushed to defend their Empire. After them, Anglo-Saxon tribes came to Great Britain.

London wall.

Between 190 and 225 years the Romans created London wall. It was a defensive fortification built around the town and going to the beach. Along with the shaft of Hadrian and the Roman road network, the London wall is one of the largest construction projects in Roman Britain. The wall was about 5 kilometers in length, 6 meters in height and 2.5 meters in thickness.

At the beginning of the 11- th century England was already a big country and London was a very important city.

In 1066 William from Normandy came with his people to England. They were French. William thought that he had right to become King of England. After the battle at Hastings he got the name of William the Conqueror and became King of England. The King lived in London. A lot of his people lived in London too. But William was afraid of the English, of Londoners and he built the White Tower to live in it.

All Kings and Queens of England lived in London. It became the biggest city in the country. By 1600 there were more than 200,000 people in London.

On Saturday, on the second of September 1666 there was a strong wind from the river and a big fire began. The summer of that year was unusually dry and hot in London, and wooden houses became very dry too, and the wind was very strong and blew from the river. All these caused a very big fire. It started in the house of the king’s baker, near London Bridge.

The fire burnt until Thursday. The fire burnt for four days and destroyed 80% of the city. More than 250,000 people didn’t have home any more. But, in spite of everything, not anybody died in that fire!

After the Great Fire people built a new city. The city was becoming larger and larger. By 1830 there were more than one and a half million people in London. The railways came and London was becoming richer and richer. New houses of stone or brick, not wood, were built. Streets became wider and straight.

A monument in memory of the Great London fire .

The monument placed in Central London, representing a Roman Doric column with a height of 61,57 m, built in 1671-1677, architect Christopher Wren, and assisted him in the restoration of London after the fire the famous scientist Robert Hooke. The monument represents the world's highest free-standing column. The monument is a column made of Portland stone (a limestone quarried in the island of Portland), top of which is crowned by a gilded urn, which pulled out of the flames. On the original draft at the top wanted to put a statue of Charles II, but then this idea have refused to fire has not been associated with the name of the king.

London consists of three parts:

• City- financial and commercial area
• West End - Central

• East End - industrial district

City

The city occupies one square mile, there live little over a thousand people.

St. Paul's Cathedral

Remains of the Roman city wall

The monument to the Great fire of London 1666

St. Paul's Cathedral -

The official opening date of the Cathedral is

October 20, 1708 – birth of the architect sir Christopher Wren (that day he was 76 years old), but the actual service at the Cathedral commenced on 2 December 1697.

The bell is fitted with 17 bells.

One of the greatest English churches, St. Paul's Cathedral, is not far from the Tower of London. Old St. Paul's Cathedral was made of wood and burnt in the Great Fire of London. The famous architect Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt it in the 17- th century. He started in 1675. It took him 35 years. It is a very beautiful building with many tall columns and towers. In оne of its towers there is one of the largest bells in the world.

West End

Piccadilly Circus

Royal Opera house "Covent garden"

The British Museum

Tate Gallery

Piccadilly Circus

. Until the XVII century, the region in the area of the street was known as Portugal, and later the street was called Portuguese. The name "Piccadilly" was received from the house belonging to Robert Baker, who in the early seventeenth century made his fortune by trading trendy collars-"Picadilly" (piccadill) — stiff collars with scalloped edges and a broad lace, stagewise around the edges. In 1612 he buys in the street a piece of land and builds a house there. Later his mansion became known as Piccadilly hall. After the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660, Piccadilly and the area to the North (Mayfair) began to be built luxury homes. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries they had built the house of nobles and aristocrats, and later the Nouveau riche like the Rothschilds. On the North side of Piccadilly at that time was built of the most fashionable mansions of London.

Theatre Royal Covent garden.

Theatre in London, serving as a venue for Opera and ballet performances, home stage of the Royal Opera and the Royal ballet. Located in the area of Covent garden, after which it got the name. The current building is the third located on this site. It was built in 1858 and underwent a major reconstruction in the 1990-ies. Hall has a capacity of 2268 spectators, the proscenium width 12.2 m, height of 14.8 m.

For nearly a century the theatre of Covent garden was one of the two London theatres as early as 1660 king Charles II allowed the staging of dramatic productions in two theatres (the second was equally famous theatre "Drury lane"). In 1734 in the "Covent garden" was the first ballet Pygmalion to Marie Salle in the title role, danced, contrary to tradition, without a corset.

The British Museum.

The main historical and archaeological Museum of the British Empire (now the UK) and one of the largest museums in the world, second in attendance among art museums, the Louvre .

The British Museum was established in 1753 based on three collections — the collection of renowned British physician and naturalist Hance Sloan, the collection of count Robert Harley, as well as the library of the antiquarian Robert cotton, which became the basis of the British library. A Museum was approved by an act of the British Parliament.

Tate Modern

The London gallery of modern and contemporary art, included in the group of Tate galleries, in which are exhibited the national collection of British art from 1500 to the present day. The Tate Modern houses a collection of works of art created since 1900. One of the ten most visited art museums in the world.

The Museum opened in 2000 in a former power station Bankside Power Station on the South Bank of the Thames. In December 2012 it was announced that the Tate Modern launches youth art program worth cost 5 million pounds . The program "national youth network for the visual arts" runs from April 2013, for four years, and must engage in the world of contemporary art to 80 thousand young people aged 15 to 25 years. The project sponsor — the Paul Hamlin Foundation, which for 25 years was allocated in grants to 200 million pounds.

East End

The Museum Of Childhood

The Reina Victoria theatre (Old Vic)

Cleopatra's needle (the height 20,87 and the weight about 187 tons.)

Docklands

The Museum of childhood .

The Museum's collection, comprising toys and games, doll clothing, furniture and other things associated with childhood covers the period from XVI century to our times. The Museum maintains active educational activities, monthly receives about 30 thousand visitors. In addition, the building that houses the Museum, is an architectural monument and protected by law.

In 1851, London hosted the first "Great exhibition of industry of all Nations". Inspired by her success, Prince Albert initiated the opening next year of the Museum set (eng. Museum of Manufactures), which was to provide access to works of art to the General public, to raise the level of education of workers and become a source of inspiration for British designers and manufacturers. In 1857, the Museum, greatly expanding its exposure has changed the location and in accordance with this title, becoming the Museum of South Kensington (eng. South Kensington Museum). The Museum was very popular in subsequent years, even grew, occupying more of the building and premises.

The Reina Victoria theatre (Old Vic).

Theatre in London, located South-East of Waterloo station on the corner of the cut and Waterloo road. Royal Coburg theatre (Royal Coburg Theatre) was built in 1818, in 1880 the name was changed Emma Designed at the Royal Victoria hall (Royal Victoria Hall). In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian Baylis assumed leadership, and in 1914 began to put on the stage of the old Vic Shakespeare's plays. The building needed repair after the devastating bombings of the 1940s, the theatre was again opened to the public only in 1951 after reconstruction. "Old Vic" — also the name of a theatre troupe. In 1963, under Laurence Olivier, the theatre was awarded the title of Royal national theatre of great Britain, old Vic proudly continued to wear until 1976, when there was a division of the company on senior and Junior staff, resulting in a new young team moved into a new building, constructed near the South Bank and called the young Vic. Troupe completely updated two more times, in 1985 and 2003. The theater's artistic Director until 2015 was an American actor Kevin spacey, whose appointment caused considerable public outcry. For 2016 the post is Matthew Warchus.

Cleopatra's needle.

The ancient Egyptian obelisk flanked by two sphinxes in the historic center of London, Victoria embankment. Is a monolith of granite 18 meters high and weighing 186 tons. Taken by the British from Alexandria in 1877. The obelisk was made in an iron cylinder, was loaded onto a specially designed ship "Cleopatra," and in September, 1877, was towed by steamer. While sailing in the Bay of Biscay the ship caught in a storm, in which 6 sailors died. On January 21, 1878, the obelisk was transported to London. Originally it was planned to install in front of the British Parliament. 12 September 1878 it was erected on Victoria embankment[. On the sides there are sculptures of sphinxes, cast in bronze and facing the obelisk.

Docklands.

Docklands is the semi-official name of the territory to the East and South-East of Central London, stretching along both banks of the river Thames East of the tower. Currently, the old docks area is divided between the administrative districts of tower Hamlets and Newham on the left Bank of the river Thames and the counties Southwark and Greenwich on the right Bank. The docks were formerly part of the port of London, the former before one of the biggest ports in the world. The government of Margaret Thatcher launched a programme of modernisation of the Docklands, and now they turned into a primarily in residential and commercial buildings. The name "Docklands" was first used in the government report on development plans in 1971, but since then has become universally used. It also caused the conflict between the old and new communes Docklands.

Tower bridge

one of the symbols of London and Britain, opened in 1894

Tower bridge.

Tower bridge — bascule bridge in Central London over the river Thames, near the tower of London. Sometimes confused with the London bridge, located upstream. Opened in 1894. Also is one of the symbols of London and Britain.

In the second half of the XIX century because of increased equestrian and pedestrian traffic in the port area in the East End was a question about the construction of a new crossing East of "London bridge". Laid in 1870, tower, tunnel, subway as the metro served for a short time and eventually was used only for pedestrian traffic. In 1876 a Committee was formed to develop solutions for the current problem. Was organized the competition, which has delivered over 50 projects. Only in 1884 was declared the winner and made the decision to build the bridge proposed by the member of the jury for G. Jones. After his death in 1887, the construction headed by John Wolfe-Barry.

Construction work started on 21 June 1886 and lasted for 8 years. 30 June 1894 the bridge was opened by Edward Prince of Wales and his wife Princess Alexandra. Soon the pedestrian gallery bridge gained "fame" gathering place for pickpockets. For this reason, in 1910 the galleries were closed. They just re-opened in 1982 and used as a Museum and an observation deck.

The Tower Of London

built by William the Conqueror after his invasion in 1078-1098

The bloody tower

The white tower

The Tower.

Hundreds of years ago the Tower was a castle. It was planned by William the Conqueror to keep London under the control of his government and to defend the city.

The oldest part of it is the square building which is called the White Tower. The walls were built later, in the thirteenth century.

For many years the Tower was a state prison. Many famous and infamous people were kept there.

At present many people visit the Tower as a museum.

The Tower of London is an old castle, with high walls, high towers, small windows and large gardens. Once it was a royal residence, a strong fortress and a state prison. Here many important people, among them two wives of Henry VIII, were imprisoned and beheaded.

Westminster

was founded in the VII century . The center of government and administrative agencies.

Westminster Abbey

the traditional place of coronation and burial of British monarchs.

Poetry corner

Westminster Abbey.

Westminster Abbey — Gothic Church in Westminster (London). Built intermittently from 1245 until 1745 years, although the first mention of a Church on this site belong to the VII-X centuries. The traditional place of coronation and burial of monarchs of great Britain. Together with the adjoining Westminster Palace and the Church of St. Margaret Abbey in 1987 it was listed as world heritage .

It is believed that the first Benedictine Church on this place was built during the reign of king Sabert, in the VII century. About the year 960, she was greatly expanded by Saint Dunstan with the support of king Edgar. Then it was island at the confluence of the river Tyburn into the Thames; later, when the influence of the Abbey grew significantly, the area became known as Westminster, from the English. West Minster — the Western Church (the Eastern Church was St. Paul's Cathedral). Edward the Confessor, settling in located near the Palace of Westminster, decided to rebuild this Church. Work began in 1042. On December 28, 1065, a few days before his death, the Church was consecrated, although construction was completed in 1090. From this structure, leaving only the round arch and pillar crypts (now in the crypt is the Museum of the Abbey. Presumably, the first English king who was crowned here was Harold II in January 1066. Defeated him at the battle of Hastings William the Conqueror was crowned here in the same year, as evidenced by the entry in the Abbey. Since then all the monarchs of England (and from 1707 Britain) were crowned in Westminster Abbey except Edward V and Edward VIII, who were not crowned at all. The only surviving image of that Church on the Bayeux tapestry.

The stone of destiny, on which for centuries Scottish kings were crowned

The coronation chair was built in 1300 for Edward I

The Palace of Westminster (houses of Parliament)

The Palace of Westminster.

The Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament).

The Palace of Westminster (eng. Palace of Westminster, Westminster Palace) is a building on the river Thames in the London borough of Westminster, where the meeting of the British Parliament. Connects to Trafalgar square Whitehall. The architectural style is neo-Gothic. Initially, before 1529, served the Metropolitan residence of the kings of England. After the fire of 16 October 1834 the Palace was rebuilt in neo-Gothic design Charles Barry and A. W. N. Pyudzhina. From the medieval Palace of Westminster survived the reception hall (1097), seat of the courts of Westminster, and the Tower of jewels (built to hold the Treasury of Edward III). In the Palace of 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases and 5 kilometers of corridors.

The ancient name of the place where is located the Palace of Westminster — the island of thorney. The first Royal Palace on this place was built cnut the Great, king of Denmark, England and Norway during his reign from 1016 at 1035 year.

The Palace of Westminster was the main Royal residence during the late middle ages, also gathered here are the forerunners of Parliament, Royal Council and the Parliament of Simon de Montfort, 1265. The first official Parliament of England met in the Palace in 1295, and since then almost all subsequent parliaments of England (from 1707 of great Britain) met here. From 1341, the Parliament divided into the House of lords and the House of Commons.

Big Ben

the bell tower in the southern part of the architectural complex of the Palace of Westminster (1858) The weight of the bell-13,7 tons. The clock tower set in motion may 21, 1859

Big Ben.

Big Ben — the name of the largest of the five bells of the Palace of Westminster in London, often the name refers to the clock and Clock tower as a whole[1]. At the time of casting big Ben was the largest and heaviest (13,7 tons) bell United Kingdom. In 1881 he yielded to the bell Big Paul (17 tons).

The tower was built by English architect Augustus Pugin in the Gothic revival style, 1859, the tower clock started on 31 may 1859. The height of the tower, including the spire — 96.3 meters. The lower part of the clock mechanism is located at a height of 55 meters. The official name until September 2012 was the "Clock tower of Westminster Palace", in the press it was often called the Tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral. According to the decision of the British Parliament renamed the Elizabeth Tower in honor of the 60th anniversary of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Buckingham Palace

the residence of the British monarch

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch (currently Queen Elizabeth II). Located opposite the street pall Mall and green Park with white marble and gilded Queen Victoria monument. When the monarch is in the Palace, above the roof of the Palace flies the Royal standard.

Originally Buckingham Palace was known as Buckingham house and was built for the Duke of Buckingham (since 1703). It was purchased by king George III in 1762 as the future private residence of the monarch (the official residence of St. James's Palace ceased to hold it and the size, and finish). In the next 75 years, architects John Nash and Edward Blore (author of Alupka Palace), based on Buckingham house, built three more similar buildings. All together form a square in plan, the center of which is a large courtyard.

Victoria Memorial

On three sides of the pedestal there are bronze statues of the angel of Justice (facing North-West towards green Park), the angel of Truth (facing South-East), and an angel of Mercy standing in front of Buckingham Palace

Trafalgar square

Was named in honor of the victory of England over Napoleon in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The height of Nelson's column of 44 meters, the height of the statue is 5.5 m. Trafalgar square is the zero kilometer of all roads in the UK, the so-called "zero kilometer", the Londoners this place called the "Heart of England"

National gallery, London The Church Of St. Martin

Fountains, installed in 1840, decorated with bronze tritons, mermaids and dolphins.

The Sherlock Holmes Museum

The wax Museum Madame Tussauds

The Victoria and Albert Museum

The Sherlock Holmes Museum.

The Sherlock Holmes Museum — London house-Museum of the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes, the literary character created by sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Museum is located on Baker street, near the London underground station, about halfway from the intersection of Baker street with Marylebone road to Regents Park. The Museum is located in a four-storey Victorian house. The house was built in 1815 and listed buildings of Her Majesty, of architectural and historical value, 2nd class. In addition to the signage of the Museum, outside on the house model installed the London memorial plaque ("Blue talitskaya") that are installed on the houses, which were home to any historical figure. The plaque stated that in this house from 1881 to 1904 he lived a consulting detective Sherlock Holmes.

The wax Museum Madame Tussauds.

The Madame Tussauds is a wax Museum in London's Marylebone, created 200 years ago by a sculptor Marie Tussaud.

Marie Tussaud (1761-1850), née Grosholtz (Grosholtz) was born in Strasbourg, her mother worked as a housekeeper for the Dr. Phillip Curtis, engaged in wax models. He taught Maria Tussaud the art of working with wax. In 1765 she made a wax figure of Marie-Jeanne du Barry, mistress of Louis XV. The first exhibition of wax works by Phillip Curtis was held in 1770 and enjoyed great success. In 1776, the exhibition was held in Palais Royal in Paris. The next exhibition on the Boulevard du temple in 1782 was the predecessor of the Cabinet of horrors. In 1777, Marie Tussaud creates her first wax figure, of Voltaire, followed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Benjamin Franklin. During the French revolution she made death masks of members the Royal family. After his death in 1794 Phillip Curtis his collection goes to Mary Tussauds. In 1802, Marie Tussaud moved to London. In connection with the Anglo-French war Maria Tussaud and her collection can't go back to France and she was forced to travel to Britain and Ireland. In 1835 was established the first permanent exhibition on Baker street in London. The figure of the Queen of great Britain and Northern Ireland Elizabeth II and Duke Philip Endinburgh in the Museum One of the curiosities of the Museum Mary had a Cabinet of horrors. Here you can see victims of the French revolution, murderers and criminals famous. Over time, the collection was replenished with figures of people, famous in other fields, such as Admiral Nelson, Walter Scott. In 1884, the collection moved to a new building on Marylebone road. In 1925 a fire destroyed many of the figures. Because the form was not injured, and the figures were reconstructed

The Victoria and Albert Museum.

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the world's largest Museum of decorative arts and design. Founded in 1852.

The Museum was founded in 1852 under the influence of the success of the world exhibition of 1851. Funding for its creation was funded through part of the proceeds from the exhibition. The original name of the Museum was the "Museum products". Initially, the Museum was created together with the school of design in the Department of practical art. In 1853, the Museum was renamed "Museum of decorative arts" . In 1857 the Museum was established in South Kensington and was called the South Kensington Museum. Great support for the Museum was provided by the Prince consort Albert, consort of Queen Victoria. The Museum actively purchased contemporary and earlier samples of decorative art. Thanks to generous donations and a very large demand for art objects, the Museum was able to quickly gather a large collection. In 1899, with the participation of Queen Victoria was based on the new Central building of the Museum, and soon the Museum was renamed in honor of the Queen and her husband. Previously the Museum was built a number of buildings in South Kensington.

Richmond Park

Hyde Park

the Royal Park area of 1.4 km2 in the centre of London.

The London eye is one of the biggest Ferris wheels in the world, with a height of 135 m.

Kensington gardens

opened by Queen Christina in 1728.

The statue of Peter pan (1912)

St. James's Park

the oldest Park in London acquired by the Royal Treasury of king Henry VIII.

Green Park

was opened by Charles I, and before that served as Royal hunting grounds

Regents Park

a popular place of recreation for residents and visitors to London , with an area of 188 hectares.

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Among the main attractions —

London zoo

"If you are tired of London, you are tired of life because London has everything that happens in life"

Samuel Johnson.

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