London

London transport London Underground, often called the Tube, is the quickest and easiest way to get around central London. Parts of the system are very old, the first line opened in 1863. Taxis of black colour are very popular means of transport in London and so are red double-decker buses. London has three main airports: Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. Heathrow is the world`s busiest airport for passengers.

...

L O N D O N 1. London is the capital and the largest city of both England and the United Kingdom. It lies on the River Thames, covers an area of 1,580 sq. km and it has a population of almost 9 million people. London is the seat of the Monarch, the Parliament, the Government and the Supreme Court and it is one of the world´s leading commercial and cultural centres. Its history and architecture attract millions of tourists from overseas each year, because there are a lot of important historical buildings, museums, theatres and parks. History London has a long history. It was founded by the Romans in 43 A.D. as a centre of trade; its Roman name was Londinium. The medieval history of London in 1066 when William the Conqueror was crowned king of England at newly finished Westminster Abbey, just three months after his victory at the Battle of Hastings. The 17th century brought much suffering to London. In 1665 more than 75,000 people died from a plague epidemic and a year later, in 1666, the Great Fire of London destroyed over three quarters of the city. Sir Christopher Wren was appointed the main architect and he constructed about 50 churches and some other public buildings, including his masterpiece St.Paul´s Cathedral. During the World War II London was seriously damaged by German bombing, but the city was completely reconstructed. The centre of London can be divided into four principal parts, i.e. the City of London, the City of Westminster, the West End and the East End.

3. The City of Westminster The City of Westminster is known as the centre of political and administrative life of Great Britain. The Houses of Parliament on the left bank of the Thames are the political centre of the United Kingdom, the home of the British Parliament. They were rebuilt in the Neo-Gothic style in 1840.Great Britain, with its Houses of Parliament, is the oldest democracy in the world today. Big Ben is the bell in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. It was made in 1858 and called after Sir Benjamin Hall, one of the ministers, who was a very tall and stout man called Big Ben by people. Each of the four faces of the clock is over seven metres in diameter. The tower is 97 metres high. The strike of Big Ben is known world-wide because it is used by the BBC as a time signal. Opposite the Houses of Parliament we can see a new tourist attraction called London Eye- a huge wheel and from its top there is a wonderful view of the centre. It was opened in 2000 to welcome a new millennium. Many English kings and queens have been crowned and buried in Westminster Abbey since 1066. Famous British writers, scholars, dramatists and poets are buried in the Poets´ Corner. Not far from the Houses of Parliament is Buckingham Palace, the Queen´s official London residence. Victoria was the first monarch to live in the Palace - and there is the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of the palace. When Her Majesty is in residence, the Royal Standard is flown from the flagstaff. Since 1993 parts of the Palace have been opened to the public, including the Queen`s Picture Gallery. The changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace is a popular event taking place at 11.30 a.m. every day. No.10, Downing Street, a closed street, has been the official residence of the Prime Minister since the 18th century.

2. The City of London The City of London, the oldest part of the town and it is not far from the River Thames. The City of London is the international finance centre. It has the greatest concentration of banks in the world and the London Stock Exchange can be found there, too. Today the cathedral and other historical buildings in the centre of London are surrounded and over-shadowed by modern concrete and glass buildings which were built in the places of buildings destroyed in WW II. There are a lot of old sights in the City. The Tower of London was built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century. At first it served as a fortress and a royal palace, a prison and there was once even a royal ZOO there. Nowadays it is a museum with the Crown Jewels. The Tower is guarded by the Yeomen Warders, popularly called Beefeaters, dressed in their traditional uniforms. Next to the Tower there is the Tower Bridge, the most famous bridge in London from the 19th century. The bridge "breaks" in the middle to allow tall ships through. It takes 90 seconds to be opened. St. Paul´s Cathedral is the largest and best-known church in London and the second largest in the world after St. Peter´s in Rome. Sir Christopher Wren´s masterpiece was completed after 35 years in 1711. It is built in the Baroque style, the main nave is 170 metres long and it is crowned by a dome which rises 111 metres. Inside the dome there is the famous Whispering Gallery with a remarkable acoustics - if you whisper words on one side, they can be heard on the opposite side. In 1981, it was the setting for the marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. Not far from the cathedral is the Monument which commemorates the Great Fire. It is 60 metre high column.

3. The West End London´s West End is the main entertainment and shopping centre of the capital. It is located to the west of the City. The West End contains London´s most famous streets and areas, including Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Soho or Hyde Park etc. Trafalgar Square is said to be the largest in London and is a place of political demonstrations and busy traffic, but it is famous also for its pigeons. It name commemorates the naval victory of Admiral Lord Nelson over Napoleon at Trafalgar in 1805. In the middle of the square there is Nelson´s Column with a statue of Horatio Nelson on the top, and guarded at the base by four lions. The famous National Gallery forms one side of Trafalgar Square. It houses one of the world´s greatest collections of European art. Opposite is the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. A short way from here is another popular place, Piccadilly Circus, a meeting point for both Londoners and foreigners. This is the busiest and noisiest place in London. In the centre of the Circus at the top of the Fountain stands Eros, the Greek God of love. The most beautiful view of the square is at night when it is lit by many colourful advertisements. London is a wonderful place to go shopping. London`s best-known shopping streets in the West End are Oxford Street, Regent Street, Bond Street and Piccadilly. Covent Garden, once a famous fruit and vegetable market, has now been restored to make an elegant covered shopping area There are about 100 theatres and cinemas in the capital in the West End. The Globe Theatre a new building from the end of 1990s, is situated on the bank of the Thames not far from Millennium Bridge. The theatre stands almost on the same place where it was situated in the Shakespeare´s time. The Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221b Baker Street; in Madame Tussaud´s, wax portraits of famous world figures are on display. Both are the small but most visited museums in London. London has many parks, gardens and open spaces. The most notable are the Royal Parks in central London: St. James´s Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Regent´s Park and Green Park. In Hyde Park now you can swim or row on the Serpentine Lake or go horse riding or take a rest only. On Speaker´s Corner at the north-east corner of Hyde Park, it is traditional for anyone to stand up and speak about any topics. The Old Royal Observatory, from where Greenwich Mean Time is taken, stands in Greenwich Park. You can stand with one foot in the East and one in the West hemisphere which are divided by the Greenwich Meridian going through this place and set your watch every day at 1 p.m. .