London

· the capital of England and Great Britain.
· about 9 mil. inhabitants
· about 625 square miles in area
· city of tradition, history, monuments, theatres, parks, museums
1.City centre
- Tower: fortress - royal palace - prison, now it is a museum of arms
there are also the crown jewels kept
- Tower Bridge
- St. Paul´s Cathedral, the greatest of English churches, built by Sir Christopher Wren
2.Westminster
- Royal Palaces, Government offices
- Westminster Abbey is the centre of this area, it has been the coronation church of almost all English kings
- Palace of Westminster = Houses of Parliament. When the parliament has it´s session a flag flies at Big Ben
- Buckingham Palace - the residence of British royal family, there are the ceremonys of changing the Guard at 11.30
- the British Prime minister has his residence at 10 Downing street, the meetings of the Cabinet are held here
3.West End
- shops & entertainment, theatres, night clubs, cinemas
- China Town with many restaurantsand beautiful gateways
- Piccadilly Circus with the Statue of Eros (God of love)
- well known street as Piccadilly, Bond, Reqent´s, Oxford and the Carnaby street with shops offering the latest fashion
4.East End
- used to be a slum in the 19th century, rebuilt after II. WW
- historically associated with the Cocney dialect

Trafalgar Square
– one of the largest squares in London
- in the middle there is the statue of admiral Nelson, in the north – National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery
Other
–Tate Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum, British Museum, Madam Tussaud´s Museum (waksworks of famous people)
The Tower Bridge (completed in 1894, 880 feet long)
- it is the most famous and distinctive bridge in London
- it towers over the river Thames, which flows from the west to the east of London and divides it in two parts
Parks
– St. Jame´s Park, Buckingham Palace Gardens, Hyde Park (Speaker´s Corner, a little lake the Serpentine), Regent´s Park, Kensington Gardens (Victorian
Gothic Albert Memorial)
Transport
- London is na important centre of transport
- the world´s first electric underground was opened here in 1890
- the London International Airport (Heathrow) in the western part


„When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford.“
This quotation is very famous. It was wirtten by Samuel Johnson in 1777.

Yes, every visitor of London is impressed by the city´s majestic layout. It is really generous and very logical. To explore the city would need a lot of time bur even a brief visit is worthwhile.
London has nearly 2000 years of recorded history. It was founded as Londinium by the Romans, following their invasion in 43 A.D. It was in the time when Westminster was still a marsh. The Romans had inhabieted the land. They built the first wooden bridge and in 120 A.D. began the construction of the defensive walls, fragments of which can still be seen today. The Romans left in the 5th century and the city was largely abandoned, though by the 8th cenury it was again a busy trading centre and in the 11th cenury it became the capital of England. Edward the Confessor built a palace and abbey at Westminster, creating the twin centres which still exist. The Norman period saw the construction of the Tower, old St. Paul´s Cathedral and many other buildings and the first stone bridge over the Thames. Mediaval London grew in importance as a trading centre and in 1215, with the sealing by King John of Magna Carta, its citizens won the right to elect their own leader – the Lord Mayor. London saw rapid growth during the Tudor and Stuart period which led to new building outside the walls in areas such as Covent Garden and Loncoln´s Inn.
The most important building of the 16th century is Royal Exchange, founded in 1565 by sir thnomas Gresham. On the north side is the Bandk of England. The building was designed by Sir John Soane, though it has been much modified. In 1666 The Great Fire of London broke out and destroyed three-quarters of the city. The fire started at a baker´s shop and spread very quickly destroying the houses built of wood. The rebuilding of London foollowed the Mediaval street plan but the old timber houses were replaced by more up-to-date buildings made of brick in order to reduce any risk of fire in the future. Sir Christopher Wren, a famous English architect, spent many years reconstructing and rebuilding the city. He rebuilt St. paul´s Cathedral and designed 51 new churches of which 23 still stand. Sir Christopher Wren designed the Monument, a 202 feet column to commemorate the Great Fire of London, which broke out a short distance away in Pudding Lane.

It is worth climbing 311 steps to get an impressive panoramic view of the surrounding area.
In the 18th century London underwent further development, the city flourished and this led to further expansion into areas such as Mayfair, althoug the poor of London still lived in awful conditions. During the 19th century London spread rapidly into suburbs, swallowing up villages and countryside. This initiated the development of new forms of transport, such as buses and railways, including the underground railway system.
In the 19th century Britain was at the height of her colonial powers and this infuenced further building and constructing in London. At this time the Houses of Parliament were built as well as St. Pancras Station. During World War II Britain was badly damaged by German bombs including large areas of London. Again there was a lot of rebuilding and London is now ready to host you. Today London is a sprawling, cosmopolitan metropolis and a exciting city which really should be visited by everybody.