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Sights of London

The Tower is one of the most ancient buildings of London. It was founded in the 11^th century by William the Conqueror. For many centuries the Tower was a fortress, a palace, a prison and royal treasury. Now it is a museum.

The ravens are one of the most famous sights at the Tower of London. Legend says if the ravens leave the Tower, the monarchy will fall. All the ravens have their own names. The Raven Master gives them food which is mainly dead flesh. So for over 900 years these unique birds have been guarding the Tower of London.

There are about 30 bridges across the river Thames. Tower Bridge is the biggest and the most beautiful of them. It is situated to the East of the Tower of London. The bridge was built in 1894 and it is made of two parts, which can be lifted.

Westminster Abbeyis one of the most remarkable examples of early English gothic style. It is impressive in appearance and size. The Abbey is used for the coronations, royal weddings, funerals and memorial services of great statesmen and national figures of England. In the most noticeable place there is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier whose body was brought from France and buried there on the 11 November 1920. This tomb commemorates (служить напоминанием) all those who gave their lives during World War 1.

There is the Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey with tomb and memorials of many British poets and writers such as Shakespeare, Burns, Byron, Longfellow, Dickens, etc.

Buckingham Palace is the official home of the British royal family in London. When the flag is on the top of the Palace it means that the Queen is at home. Every day at 11.30 you can see the beautiful ceremony of changing the Guard. In front of Buckingham Palace there is Queen Victoria Memorial. At the base you can see the seated figure of Queen Victoria. Her reign was the longest in British history. Once a year on the first or second Saturday of June they celebrate the official birthday of the Queen. There are almost 600 rooms in the Palace. One of them is the Balcony Room with the central window from which the Royal Family steps onto the balcony to greet the public.

St. Paul’s Cathedral is the work of the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren. It is one of the finest pieces of architecture in Europe. It stands on the same place where many years ago in 604 AD a wooden cathedral, dedicated to St. Paul was built. Then it was destroyed by fire and rebuilt. But the Great Fire of 1666 completely destroyed the cathedral. The construction of the present cathedral was started in 1675 and finished in 1710. From far away you can see the huge dome with a golden ball and a cross on the top. The interior of the Cathedral is very beautiful. It is full of monuments. After looking around you can climb 263 steps to the Whispering Gallery, which runs round the dome. It is called so, because if someone whispers close to the wall on one side, a person with his ear close to the wall on the other side can hear what is said. As for Christopher Wren, who is now known as “the architect of London”, he found his fame only after his death. He was buried in the Cathedral.

An outstanding sight of London is the British museum, which is one of the great museums of the world. It was founded in 1753. The collection of the museum is big in size and variety. It has a wonderful art gallery and unique collections of coins and medals, sculpture, ceramics, drawings and paintings of the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Japanese, Indian and many other peoples. It also has unique collections of Italian drawings with Leonardo da Vinci’s work, English and French prints and so on. The British Museum is the most important place of archaeological studying in the world with unique prehistoric collections. Also the British Museum is proud of its great library with about 6 million books in it.

Not far from Buckingham Palace there is Trafalgar Square. The highest point here is the column with a statue of Admiral Lord Nelson. It was built to commemorate the famous naval victory over the French at Trafalgar (Spain) of Admiral Nelson, who died in the battle in 1805. At the top of the monument there is a figure of a seaman. At the base of the Nelson’s column there are four bronze lions, which were built 26 years after the construction of the column. The square is also decorated with beautiful fountains. Thousands of pigeons fly there and people feed them. This is one of the attractions for Londoners and tourists.

Covent Gardenis a very exciting place too. Many years ago it was a big vegetable and fruit market. It is tourist shopping centre now. It attracts a lot of shoppers from Britain and abroad. Seven days a week you can buy there everything from food to small antiques, including shoes, Eastern goods, Irish hand-knitted sweaters, etc. You can find there also health food such as peanut butter, honeys, mustards, different kinds of cheese, chocolate and so on. There are a great variety of cafes and restaurants where you can relax and have a good time. The Royal Opera House is also situated there.