LONDON CITY

BIG BEN	BRITISH MUSEUM	BUCKINGAN PALACE	CASTLE OF WINDSOR	NATIONAL GALLERY	HYDE PARK	HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT
MADAME TUSSAUD MUSEUM	PICCADILLY CIRCUS	PORTOBELLO	SANT PAUL CATHEDRAL	TOWER BRIDGE	TOWER OF LONDON	WESTMISTER ABBEY

 

BIG BEN - HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT (WESTMINSTER) The edit of Parliament, Home of the Upper House and Lower House, officially called the Palace of Westminster, in memory of the ancient royal palace sorgeva.Il Palace of Westminster was built by Edward the Confessor and enlarged by William the Conqueror and William Rufus, who also built Westminster Hall (1097-1099). Following a catastrophic fire in 1512 remained free only Westminster Hall, St Stephen's Chapel (Chapel of St. Stephen's) built in the fourteenth century, and the crypt. Until 1529, when Henry VIII was a gift the adjacent Whitehall Palace, the Palace of Westminster served as a royal residence. In 1547 it became the seat of Parliament. The Lower House is arranged in the chapel of St. Stephen, the Upper House, however, in a hall on the southern end of the palace courtyard. In 1605 a revolt broke out during which Catholics planned to blow up Parliament. The palace was again destroyed by fire, with the exception of Westminster Hall, in 1834, in its current architecture is the work of Sir Charles Barry, who realized in 1840-1888 in the neo-Gothic style, of reverence and respect for the nearby Abbey of Westminster (Westminster Abbey). The official opening of the new Parliament took place in 1852. Severely damaged during the Second World War, the buildings were rebuilt in the original plan in 1948-1950. At the northern end of the Parliament building is the Clock Tower, known throughout the world as Big Ben, surely one of the most distinctive and famous symbols of London. It is 97.50 m high The clock dials, located on each side, have a diameter of about 8 m, the hands are long, almost 4 minutes of me, the clock bell weighs 13 tons, 334 steps lead up the tower. Its chimes, famous throughout the world, is used as a time signal from the British radio.

 

BRITISH MUSEUM - NATIONAL GALLERY The British Museum including the Library and British Museum. This includes collections of the most prestigious in the world of Egyptian art, Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek, Roman, South and Southeast Asia, China and the European Middle Ages, in addition to the exhibition halls of the Library. Founded in 1753 by an act of Parliament, was initially registered (from 1759) in Mountain House. The present building was built in neoclassical style in the years 1823-1857. As findings are of interest to mention the famous Elgin Marbies, the sculptures of the Parthenon in Athens made ​​to bring to London by the Earl of Elgin at the beginning of the century. XIX. There are exposed extraordinary treasures of the Assyrian era. 30 manuscripts are on display in the hall of historical, literary, scientific and musical. Important two originals of the Magna Carta of 1215. In addition to these, manuscripts of Charles Dickens and Laurence Sterne, the first version of Handel's Messiah and John Lennon Yesterdayd'i, the last letter of Lord Nelson to Lady Hamilton, the notes of Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin, a first written by Isaac Newton's gravity and notes by Leonardo da Vinci. The National Gallery (National Gallery) is one of the largest and most valuable art galleries in the world. The building was built in which is arranged by William Wilkins (1838) and named 'Pillar of the Nation'. From the terrace you can enjoy a beautiful view of Trafalgar Square and Whitehall. In front of the palace is the statue of James II (in Roman costume), of Grinling Gibbons (1686), with the inscription 'King of England, Scotland. Wales and Ireland ', and a copy of a bronze statue of Washington by Houdon, which is located in Richmond, Virginia. The gallery was established in 1824, when the government allocates 57 000 pounds for the purchase and exhibition of 38 paintings of the famous collection Angerstein. Other acquisitions and numerous donations required back as early as 1876, a first extension of the building (in this period was built the dome), followed by further changes in 1887, 1927 and 1929. With a new wing has obtained the necessary exhibition space: it has been recently opened Sainsbury Vaia, with collection on early Renaissance, an auditorium and other functional spaces. The museum contains masterpieces of each period and the European school of painting (over 2 200 works, not all shown). Of particular interest is the collection of Dutch masters and Italian schools of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The lesser-known works are exhibited in Fìeserve Collections of the ground floor, where the collections are located at major stages of refurbishing the first floor. Temporary exhibitions are held on the ground floor and Suniey Room. Below, a list of the most famous artists that espogono the National Gallery. Fra Angelico, Duccio, Pisanello, Masaccio, Giotto, Paolo Uccello, Piero della Francesca, Alessio Baldovinetti, Cosme Tura, Andrea Mantegna, Antonello da Messina and Giovanni Bellini, Carlo Crivelli, Bramantino, Antonio Pollaiuolo, Sandro Botticelli, Piero di Cosimo Leonardo da Vinci, Perugino, Raphael, Pontormo, Andrea del Sarto. Bronzino, Correggio, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, Etc.

 

 

BUCKINGAN PALACE Buckingham Palace from the days of Queen Victoria, is the London residence of the royal family. It was built in 1703 on a project of the Duke of Buckingham and in 1762 took possession of King George III. King George IV in 1825 commissioned architect John Nash of court restructuring and expansion of, in 1846 the east wing was added. George V, finally, in 1913 commissioned Sir Aston Webb to change the eastern facade, so it took a neoclassical style. Since Queen Victoria, the monarch in office, on special occasions of celebration, it shows to his people on the balcony overlooking Central. During the presence of the king (or queen), the palace flies, day and night, the royal standard. A guard at the palace Guards Division of the components in full uniform. In front of Buckingham Palaces'i is a monument dedicated to Queen Victoria designed by Sir Aston Webb and built by the sculptor Sir Thomas Brock. The Changing of the Guard takes place every day around 11.30 am from April to August. To protect the royal palace at the time of the replacement of the guard, a detachment of the Household Cavalry, the Queen's Horse Guards, from the barracks in Hyde Park on their way to that of Morse Guards, past Buckingham Palace just in time for the change . In autumn and winter, the ceremony is held only every two days.

 

MADAME TUSSAUD MESEUM The Wax Museum, founded in 1770 by Swiss Madame Tussaud's in Paris, which she herself was later moved to London, where he was inaugurated in 1835. The collection of waxworks of famous people, past and present, has been completely and constantly renewed. The museum 'meet' Henry VIII with his six wives, Queen Elizabeth II surrounded by her family, stars of the French Revolution such as Robespierre, statesmen of the twentieth century, such as Nixon, Clinton, Blair, Margaret Thatcher, Chirac, Kohl Saddam Hussein, Arafat, Gaddafi Characters such as the Performing Arts Cher, Sylvester Stallone, Naomi Campbell, Litz Taylor, Harrison Ford, Princess Diana. You can also see many stars of television and celebrated football champions and sports, such as Mohammed Ali, Cantona.

 

SANT PAUL CATHEDRAL St Paul's Cathedral is the largest and most famous church of St Paul's in London City. In its place have been erected centuries ago were asked Churchyard. Wren's masterpiece is a harmonious Renaissance building (170 m long with a transect of 75 m) with two baroque towers (47 m high) and a monumental dome (111 m high). Since I have been repairing the damage of World War II and the facade has been cleaned up the cathedral persists in its sumptuous beauty (and outdoor sculptures by Francis Bird, Edward Pierce and Grinling Gibbons are again visible.) To the left and right of the porch stand two Baroque towers. 12 bells are arranged on the left, on the right a bell of 1882, which with its weight of nearly 17 tons, is the largest in England.

 

 

TOWER BRIDGE The Tower Bridge, with its two neo-Gothic tower 65 m high, is one of the most famous London attractions first. Built and designed by Horace Jones and Wolfe Barry, was inaugurated in 1894. The two heavy bridges can be opened in just 90 seconds to allow more and more rarely, the move to larger ships. A modern electrical system, which replaced the old hydraulic mechanism in 1975, makes possible this extraordinary rapidity. The ancient hydraulic system is nevertheless still partially held in cases of need for efficiency. In the two towers, interesting exhibits on the history of the bridge.

 

TOWER OF LONDON The Tower of London is England's most historically significant. Always fortress, was besieged several times, never conquered. It was the royal palace, prison, mint until 1810, the treasury (there are still preserved the jewels of the Queen), observatory (until the construction of the observatory of Greenwich) and for five centuries (until 1834) menagerie. The need to control the Thames from possible enemy attacks pushed William the Conqueror to build, after the battle of Hastings, a fortress on the left bank of the river.

 

WESTMISTER ABBEY - PICCADILLY CIRCUS - PORTOBELLO - CHELSEA Westminster Abbey was founded as a shrine of Edward the Confessor in 1050. After him were buried much of the English kings and the most prominent personalities in Britain. The abbey is the church of coronation of English kings. Here, they also place the royal weddings and funeral Masses. Instead of the earlier Norman building of Edward the Confessor, Henry III ordered the construction of the current in the French Gothic abbey, which But it was not finished. It was not completed until the nave. Parts of the abbey, destroyed by fire in 1300, were rebuilt in 1388 according to the designs of the thirteenth century. In 1506 it was added by the vaulted ceiling. The goticizzante façade with two towers, is 1740. Westminster Abbey is a Gothic masterpiece with the highest nave (34 m) across England.

Piccadiliy London Circus is for the navel of the world. This is the junction on the main arteries of Regent Street, Piccadilly, Haymarket and Shaftesbury Avenue, and three metro lines, which make the square one of the most chaotic and lively city. The premises that surround it make the heart of the entertainment. In the square is a statue in memory of the philanthropist, the Earl of Shaftesbury. Piccadilly is located near the Trocadero Centre, a shopping center with local theaters.