Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life;
for there is in London all that life can afford.
Ds Samuel Johnson, 1791
LONDON
London is the capital city of the United Kingdom. The city of some 7 million inhabitants which
covers about 620 square miles has a history that dates back to Roman times.London originated as the
Roman settlement of Londinium. It grew around a bridge over the river Thames built by the Roman
emperor Claudius.
When the Romans invaded Britain the most powerful Celt to stand up the Romans was a woman,
Boadicea. She had become queen of her tribe when her husband had died. She was tall, with long red
hair, and had a frightening appearance. In AD 61 she led her tribe against the Romans. Boadicea was
a very good fighter. She nearly drove the Romans from Britain, and she destroyed London, the Roman
capital, before she was defeated. When Boadicea saw that all hope was gone, she called her daughters
to her. „My children“, she said sadly „we have not beaten the Romans in battle. But we shall not give
in. There is still one escape.“ Then she took a cup and filled it with poison. When the Roman soldiers
found them, Queen Boadicea and her daughters were dead. She had killed both herself and her
children rather than be the slaves of the Romans. You can find a bronze statue of Queen Boadicea
on her chariot on the left side of Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament.
London is the seat of the government, the Parliament and the Queen. It´s also Britain´s largest port, a
national and international commercial and financial centre, and a major industrial area. It has two
international airports, Heathrow and Gatwick. Heathrow has been an international airport since 1946.
There are 27 bridges over the Thames and 8 tunnels under the river. The oldest bridge across the
Thames, the original London Bridge the Romans built, is long gone. There have been several London
Bridges since then, including the medieval one which was decorated with the heads of executed
people. The present bridge was only built in 1971 and replaces one which you can now find in
Arizona. Another famous London´s bridge is Tower Bridge. It is one of the world´s famous sights
and one which every visitor to London must see. Built in 1894 it´s a museum and walkway. The
Bridge is raised once or twice a day to allow ships to pass.
There are many places of interest (attractions, sights). We can see them by walking or by various
means of transport. London´s famous red double-deckers go almost everywhere. The Underground is
the oldest in the world, opened in 1890. Now it operates 11 lines and is 418 km long.
Central London consists of three main areas: the City, which is the business centre, the West End,
which is the shopping and entertainment centre, and the City of Westminster, where the seats of
government have always been.
The City of London, site of the original Roman City, is a tiny place, only about 2.5 sq km in area
and with about 10,000 permant residents, and if you go there at the weekend you will find it a very
quiet place indeed. But go there in the week and it is very different. For the City is one of the world´s
leading financial centres, which houses the world´s greatest concentration of banks, the world´s
biggest insurance market, and the world´s most advanced stock exchange, foriegn exchange market
and commodities market. Perhaps the best-known of all is the Bank of England, which issues the
money. It has its own museum open to the public. Others include Lloyds of London, the firm with
whom all the ships in the world are insured, the Stock Exchange, where shares in companies are
bought and sold and unbelievable sums of money change hands every day.
One thing you might have trouble finding there is a „typical Englishman“, with his black jacket
and pinstriped trousers, bowler hat, umbrella and rolled-up copy of the Times.He is a thing of the
past. Instead you will find a world of computer screens, portable telephones, and work so intense that
many people are considered burnt-out by the time they are thirty.
You will not find buildings here as old as in, say, Prague, because most London was destroyed by
the Great Fire of London in 1666, the City´s second great tragedy in two years. It followed the
Great Plague of 1665 and destroyed 4/5 of the City. It began in a baker´s shop in Pudding Lane and
continued for four days. It was not until 1986 that the Baker´s Company apologised! After the fire, the
City was rebuilt. Many buildings were designed by a famous architect Christopher Wren. Among
them the Monument to the Great Fire, a great column which you can climb up to get a fine view if
the City. It is 202 feet (about 65m) high, the exact distance from its base to where the baker´s shop
stood.
Perhaps his most famous building is St Paul´s Cathedral, whose dome is a real London landmark. It
is one of the largest cathedrals in the world. The cathedral is known for its Whispering Gallery.
Standing on this gallery you can clearly hear what is whispered on the opposite side 107 feet far from
you. In its crypt (the biggest in the world) Wren, lord Nelson and Wellington are buried. It was also a
scene of the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. The church became a symbol of London´s
resistance to the Blitz during the Second World War, when it, unlike so many other buildings,
survived repeated bombing.
The City of Westminster: Here are the Houses of Parliament, the Prime Minister´s residence at 10
Downing Street (since 1731), the Queen´s residence in Buckingham Palace, the Government offices
in Whitehall and Westminster Abbey . Near Downing Street are the underground Cabinet War
Rooms from which Winston Churchill governed during the WWII.
Trafalgar Square was named after Admiral Nelson´s victory over Napoleon at the battle of Trafalgar
in 1805. Nelson´s statue is situated on a 56 metres high column in the middle of the square. The
square with its fountains and pigeons is a very popular place for various meetings and demonstrations.
At Christmas a big tree stands here and on New Year´s Eve people gather here at midnight, sing and
dance. Around the square are several large buildings including the National Gallery, which houses
paintings by nearly all great European artists.
The Houses of Parliament are in neo-Gothic style and were built between 1840-1852 after the old
building had burnt down in 1834. There is also a famous clock tower with Big Ben (it weighs 13 tons)
and its characteristic bell-ringing. It is said that it was called after Sir Benjamin Hall, a very fat and tall
MP.
No church in Breat Britain has been so closely connected with the nation´s history as Westminster
Abbey . Coronations of kings and queens have been held here and most of them are buried within its
walls. The history of Westminster Abbey started with the coronation of William the Conqueror in
1066. Since 1308 they have used the Coronation Chair designed to hold the ancient Stone of Scone
seized from the Scots in 1296. It was stolen by some Scots in 1950 but replaced the following year.It
has also the graves of the monarchs, of poets (Poets´Corner), politicians and churchmen. There is also
the tomb of the unknown soldier here.
Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of Her Majesty the Queen, whose personal
standart flies when HM is in residence. Every day at 11.30 you can see here the Changing of the Guard
(soldiers marching in red coats and „bearskins“).
West End , the entertainment and shopping centre. Here you can find the most famous London
square - Picadilly Circus, with the statue of God Eros in the centre and a kigdom of music- Rock
Circus. In the entrance hall each visitor receives his personal stereo headphones. All recordings
come from compact discs for the highest quality sound and a special infra red transmission system
enables you to enjoy the greatest hits of all the rock stars standing face-to-face with their wax copies.
The most famous shops are in Regent Street and Oxford Street. A little further out one can find the
magnificent Harrods, which is one of the world´s biggest department stores. Its area is 54,000sq
metres and it has 214 departments. The slogan of the store is „Everything for Everybody“.
Practically all of the West End is bordered by parks- St.James´s Park being the smallest but the oldest
of them. A feature of St.James´s Park are birds, especially water-birds. They range from various
ducks, gulls, swans and geese to the most exotic pelicans, which have been here since the 17th century.
The largest park is Hyde Park, where many Londoners have their rest. It is well-known for its
Speaker´s Corner, where anyone can speak about anything he wants (unless he stands on the ground)
HM Tower of London was founded in the 11th century. The White Tower was built as a royal
palace and fortress for William the Conqueror in 1078 and the Tower of London grew up around it.
Later it was a state prison. Many people, including kings and queens lost their heads here.. The Tower
is now the home of the Crown Jewels protected by Yoeman Warders more commonly known as
„Beefeaters“. Another famous sight are the ravens with clipped wings. There are eight birds
altogether and in pairs they patrol the Tower.They have been doing this for over 900 years. The old
legend says:“Only so long as they stay will the crown stand“. And as the crown is the symbol of the
British monarchy, the ravens are kept there with upmost care.
In Greenwich you can visit the Royal Naval College, the National Maritime Museum and the
Royal Observatory. Here is a brass strip which marks the prime meridian.
Madam Tussaud´s Museum (wax figures of „VIPs“), similar London Dungeon- world famous
museum of horror presents the history of execution, torture and death in spine-chilling detail,
including „Jack the Ripper Experience“. The British Museum , one of the world´s greatest museums,
shows collections of archeology and art from pre-history to 20th century.
The Thames Barrier is considered to be one of the wonders of the world.Built in 1975-1982 to
protect London from flooding. It cost 500 million pounds and can „close“ London in 30 minutes. It´s
made of concrete and steel.
The oldest monument in London is Cleopatra´s Needle on Viktoria Embankment. The obelisk was
erected in Egypt in 1450 BC and was given to London by the Egyptian viceking in 1878. It is 13 m
high and weighs 180 tons.
221b Baker Street is the address of the Sherlock Holmes Museum. (the great detective created by Sit
Arthur Conan Doyle) Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson lived at 221b Baker Street in about 18811904. People have been writing to Holmes for the last 100 years, but since 1990, when the museum
was open, it ´s been possible to see where and how he was supposed to have lived.
A fascinating place for the visitor is the Docklands, which used to be a strongly working-class
area, where true Cockneys came from. For almost two centuries, up till the 1960s, London was the
Britain´s main port. But when the docks closed, the whole area went into decline. In the 1980s a
corporation was set up to stop this and the whole area underwent massive redevelopment. Now the
Docklands are full of the offices of national and international firms and housing for the wealthy. The
Dockland is linked with the centre by a modern light railway. Canary Wharf is now the home of the
tallest building in the UK, a tower over 250 metres high.