London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom, one of the most densely populated and popular cities in Europe and the world, home to over 13 million people. This beautiful, monumental city was founded by the Romans and was originally called Londinium. Read this article to pay attention to the main attractions of this London.
Tower of London
Tower (Tower), the Tower of London (Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, Tower of London).
The Tower of London is one of the main symbols of Great Britain , occupying a special place in the history of the English nation.
The Tower, a fortress on the north bank of the Thames, is the historic center of London and one of England's oldest buildings. As he wroteThe Duke of Edinburgh in his book on the 900th anniversary of the Tower, "for its history, the Tower of London was a fortress, a palace, a repository of royal jewelry, an arsenal, a mint, a prison, an observatory, a zoo, a place that attracts tourists."
Tower Bridge
The Tower Bridge is a drawbridge in the center of London above the River Thames, near the Tower of London. Sometimes it is confused with the London Bridge, located upstream. It was opened in 1894. It is also one of the symbols of London and Britain.
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is the residence of British monarchs in the city of Windsor, Berkshire, England. For more than 900 years, the castle is an unshakable symbol of the monarchy, towering over a hill in the valley of the River Thames. It is "the most romantic of all castles in the world," according to a review of the 17th-century writer Samuel Pips. His name was now called the ruling royal dynasty in England.
The Queen and other members of the royal family continue to spend most of their free time at Windsor Castle. The castle remains an important meeting place during the ceremonial visits of foreign heads of state. Its luxurious interiors are decorated with the most outstanding paintings and works of art from the royal assembly.
Greenwich (Greenwich)
Royal Borough of Greenwich - the "sea gate" of London, a historic suburb, and now - one of the 32 London districts, is located in the inner (central) London, in the southeast of the British capital, on the right The banks of the Thames. It has long been closely associated with the British fleet. Greenwich is famous for being the zero point of reference for longitude and time zones of the globe. The zero meridian is historically connected with the Greenwich Observatory. Greenwich is considered one of the most prestigious areas of London. But in terms of property prices, Greenwich noticeably inferior to such expensive areas of London as Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Chelsea, Kensington and Hampstead.
St. Paul Cathedral
St. Paul's Cathedral (English St Paul's Cathedral) - Anglican Cathedral, dedicated to the Apostle Paul. Located at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in London, and is the seat of the Bishop of London.
St. Paul's Cathedral is the tomb of almost two hundred of the most famous citizens of Great Britain. This tradition dates back to the previous cathedrals - Anglo-Saxon kings were buried in the first and second cathedrals. The first to receive the honor of being buried in St. Paul's Cathedral was his architect - Christopher Ren. On his grave there is no monument, and only the epitaph in Latin Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice ("If you're looking for a monument - just look around") is shown.
The area is Canary Wharf, not far from Greenwich
Canary Wharf (English Canary Wharf) - a business district in the eastern part of London. The quarter is located on the Dog Island, belonging to the Tower Hamlets area. Canary Wharf is the main competitor of the historical financial and business center of the British capital - the City of London. Before the commissioning of the skyscraper The Shard in 2012, there were three high-rise buildings in London, as well as Great Britain: One Canada Square, 8 Canada Square and Citigroup Center.
Canary Wharf competes with the City for the title of financial and business center of London. The main activities represented in Canary Wharf are banking, media and legal services. On the Dog Island there are offices of such large banks as Barclays, Credit Suisse, HSBC, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley; Media moguls Thomson Reuters and The Daily Mirror; International law firm Clifford Chance.
District London City (City)
City of London - an administrative and territorial entity with the status of "City", a ceremonial county in the heart of the "Greater London" region, the historical core of London, formed on the basis of the ancient Roman city of Londinium (Londinium).
The area within the boundaries of the London Wall of Roman origin is 2.9 km ², hence the nickname "square mile" (English Square mile). To the east of the City extends the "proletarian" London - the East End, and to the west - the more respectable West End. The motto of the City is Domine dirige nos ("Guide us, Lord").
Has the rights of a ceremonial county and a city district with special historical privileges: the City has its own police, the monarch can enter the territory of the City only with the permission of the Lord Mayor. City since 1695 is endowed with the rights of a separate city, and it has its own government (12 managers).
The City is a large business and financial center, along with New York it is considered the world financial center; During the XIX century, the City was the main business center in the world and continues to be one of the capitals of the world business to this day.
Hampton Court
The former country residence of English kings, located on the banks of the Thames in the London suburb of Richmond on the Thames.
The palace was founded in 1514 by the all-powerful Cardinal Wolsey, who, feeling the cooling of the monarch's mercy, donated it to Henry VIII. The Cardinal continued to live in the palace until 1529, but from 1525 the construction was managed by the king himself. If Wolsey was inspired by the layout of the Italian palazzo of the Renaissance, the king brought the elements of gloomy medieval architecture to architecture, and also built a large room for playing real tennis (he is called the oldest tennis court in the world).
For the next century and a half, Hampton Court remained the main country residence of all English monarchs. King William III considered the palace does not meet modern tastes and invited Christopher Ren to update it in the then fashionable Baroque style. The large-scale reconstruction of the palace was started in 1689, but five years later, when only the southern facade was altered, the king cooled to this project. In 1702, he fell to Hampton Court with a horse, became ill and soon died, after which the redevelopment of the residence was curtailed (some works continued until 1737)
George II was the last king who lived in the palace. By the beginning of the XIX century, the Hampton Court came to desolation, but during the Romantic era, Henry VIII's fears were repaired, and Queen Victoria opened the palace for general public. In the royal chambers you can see antiques and ancient paintings, the most significant of which belong to Mantene, Raphael and Brueghel the Elder. The regular French park in front of the palace was defeated for William III on the model of the Dutch Het Loo; Its curious feature is a labyrinth of 60 acres.
National Maritime Museum - The National Maritime Museum (NMM) in Greenwich
It is the leading naval museum of the United Kingdom and can be the largest museum of its kind in the world. Historic buildings form the Marine part of Greenwich and are a World Heritage Site, which also includes the Royal Observatory and the Queen's House of the 17th century. In 2012, Her Majesty the Queen officially approved the Royal Greenwich Museum as a new general museum, uniting the National Maritime Museum, the Queen's House, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich and Cutty Sark. The museum is an extra-departmental state body sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport. Like other state-funded national museums in the UK, the National Maritime Museum does not charge admission, although most temporary exhibitions have admission fees.
"Cutty Sark" (English Cutty Sark)
One of the most famous and one of the two surviving to the XXI century clippers. It was built in 1869 as a tea clipper. Since the middle of the XX century it is a museum ship and is in dry dock in Greenwich (Great Britain).
The ship was seriously damaged during the fire on May 21, 2007. Re-opening after the restoration took place in April 2012.
London Eye (London Eye)
The London Eye (English EDF Energy London Eye) is one of the largest wheels in the world, located in London's Lambeth area on the south bank of the Thames.
From an altitude of 135 meters (about 45 floors), the view opens almost to the whole city. The Ferris wheel is a family project of the couple-architects David Marks and Julia Barfield. Implementation of the project took six years.
The London Eye has 32 fully enclosed and air-conditioned cabins for passengers, made in the form of an egg. Capsules symbolize the 32 suburbs of London. Each 10-ton capsule can take up to 25 passengers. The wheel rotates at a constant speed of 26.4 centimeters per second (about 0.9 kilometers per hour) so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes. The wheel does not stop to take on its "board" passengers, since the speed allows passengers to enter and exit at ground level. The wheel stops only so that the disabled and the elderly can safely land / disembark.
The wheel is supported by spokes and looks like a large bicycle wheel. The lighting of the London Eye was replaced with a LED backlight from Color Kinetics in December 2006, in order to make digital control of lights possible.
London salute
Above is presented the London Ferris wheel during the sensational salute during the new year 2013. It was a grand spectacle that was covered by the world's major television channels led by the BBC. The grandeur and colorfulness of this spectacle can not leave even the most critical viewer indifferent and, therefore, specially for you we present a video of the London New Year's salutes of the last three years:
(For better perception, watch the video in high quality and full screen) [999,122]
London's New Year's fireworks were repeatedly recognized as the best in the world.
The London Aquarium
Sea Life London Aquarium, is located on the ground floor of the County Hall on the south bank of the River Thames in central London, next to the London Eye. It was opened in March 1997 and now it is visited by about a million visitors every year.
Buckingham Palace and Saint Park. James (Buckingham Palace and St James Park)
Buckingham Palace (English Buckingham Palace) - the official London residence of the British monarchs (now - Queen Elizabeth II). Located opposite the street of Pell Mall and Green Park with a white marble and gilded monument to Queen Victoria. When the monarch is in the palace, the royal standard flutters above the roof of the palace.
Currently, the palace includes 775 rooms. Of these, 19 are public rooms, 52 royal and for guests, 188 for staff, 92 offices, 72 bathrooms. Occupies a territory of 20 hectares, of which 17 hectares is a garden. Buckingham Palace gardens - the largest private gardens in London, were originally defeated by the great Lancelot Brown, but later redistributed by William Ailton and John Nash. A large artificial pond was completed in 1828.
In the palace there is an art collection of the queen with the works of Rembrandt, Rubens and others. The collection also contains French Sevres porcelain, French and English furniture. The palace has a swimming pool, mail, as well as its own cinema. For two months (August and September) the queen leaves Buckingham Palace. In these months, the palace's grand chambers are open to visitors.
The palace is guarded by the Court Division, consisting of a regiment of the Guards infantry and the Royal Horse Guards Regiment. Every day at 11:30 from April to August (in the remaining months - every other day), there is a ceremony of changing the guard. This is perhaps the most famous ceremony in London; It attracts many tourists.
Continuation read in the articlesights of London part 2 .
All educational institutions of Great Britain you can see here
