London is the capital of the Great Britain and England and it is one of the largest cities in the world. The population of London together with the suburbs is about 9 milion and it’s total area is about 1.580 square kilometres. It is also an industrial , comercial and cultural center of the country with many historic buildings, monuments, famous streets, beautiful parks and interesting museums. London is also an important seaport. During the tides the water level of the river Thames rises and it becomes navigable even for big ocean-going ships which can reach the London harbour. The river is also connected by a system of canals with the Severn estuary.

HISTORY

London originated as a small Roman settlement around the bridge over the Thames.It was founded by the Roman emperor Claudius and was first called Londinium. The city grew gradually but a great part of it was destroyed by Great Fire in 1666 (3000 houses, and 97 churches) as many buildings were made of wood and caught fire very easily. In the years that followed the city was rebuilt in stone. Many of the buildings were restored by the outstanding English architect Sir Christopher Wren.
This is why we don‘t find so many old buildings as in Prague, for example.
The river Thames flows through the city and divides it into two parts ( the left blank and right blank) But the central London (without the suburbs) can be divided into 4 main areas:
The city of London
The oldest part. It is a small area of about 2.5 square kilometers and with only around 10,000 permanent residents. But on weekdays it’s a very busy place as it houses a great number of banks, offices, headquarters of firms, the world’s most advanced stock exchange, foreign exchange market and other important institutions. Thousands of people
residing in other parts of the city come to work here every day. At weekends the City is crowded with tourists coming to see historic attractions like the Tower of London (started about 900 years ago by Wiliam the Conqueror) and the Tower Bridge. Now the Tower is the museum of arms and the place where the royal jewels are kept. But it used to be a fortress, royal place, a royal treasury and also a notorious state prison where many famous people in English history were imprisoned or put to death. The Tower is guarded by Yeoman Warders populary called “beefeaters”.