London. History of the City Name

The capital of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the city of London, located in England on the River Thames, which flows into the North Sea. London is one of the most ancient European cities, in addition, one of the largest cities in the world. It is home to over seven million people. It is the economic, political and cultural center of the whole of Great Britain. This city is popular not only for English tourists, but also for travelers throughout Europe and the world. Many sights of this city are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Such monuments as Big Ben, Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Tower are known to almost everyone.

Buckingham Palace

City name

The name London comes from the Latin name Londinium, but scholars cannot agree on how it came about. There are several hypotheses about the origin of the name London. One of them claims that this word is formed from the Roman name, which meant "violent." According to another version, the word goes back to the word Lond, that is, "a wild place overgrown with forest." There is also an opinion that London is not a Latin, but a Celtic name, which consists of the words lake and fortification. The British themselves often call the capital of their country "Big Smoke", which is associated with the famous London smog of the 19th and 20th centuries. There is another unofficial name for the city - the great wen. The word wen is very old, usually translated as "furuncle", but here it means an overcrowded city.

History of London

London was founded in 43 AD when the Romans invaded Britain with Emperor Claudius. According to one theory, a large settlement already existed on this site, but archaeological excavations do not confirm this. But the historical center of the city was almost never excavated and researched, so this version cannot be denied.

At first, London was very small, according to research, it covered an area about a mile long from east to west and half a mile from north to south. In 60 AD, the city was attacked by the British queen Boudica, after which most of it burned down. The Romans responded by capturing 80,000 Britons. Soon there was a big battle between the Romans and the Britons (there is an opinion that the battle took place on the site of modern King's Cross). Boudica was defeated. The Romans quickly rebuilt the city, building it according to a clear plan. Londinium soon became an important settlement in Britain. In the second century, it reached a great flowering, became the capital (before that, the capital of Britain was Colchester). The population of the city at that time was 60 thousand people.

In the 200th century, the country was divided into Upper and Lower Britain, Londinium became the center of Upper. At the same time, the Roman wall was built, which protected the city along the entire perimeter. The remains of this fortification have been preserved in the center of London. The Romans left Britain in the fifth century, after which the city began to be populated by local residents.

In the middle of the sixth century, London (it was then called Lundenburg) was included in the East Saxon kingdom. A bishop appeared in the city, since the king converted to Christianity. The first St. Paul's Cathedral was built. In 730, the city came under the control of the large English kingdom of Mercia. In the ninth century, the Vikings attacked London, who established power in it for twenty years. In 1066, William the Conqueror became king of England. During his reign, the famous Tower was built.

London plays a leading role in the political, economic and cultural life of Great Britain. The city has Heathrow International Airport, one of the largest in the world, a river port on the River Thames, many world-famous attractions: Westminster Abbey, the Palace of Westminster complex with a clock tower, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London and others.

London is located on the prime meridian, which is also often called the Greenwich Meridian (after the area it crosses).

Name

origin of name

The modern name of the city - London - comes from the older Roman "Londinium" (lat. Londinium). There is no consensus about the origin of this word, but scientists have repeatedly put forward hypotheses about the etymology of the name. Here are four of the most popular suggestions:
The name is of Latin origin, and is derived from a Roman personal name meaning "violent";
The name is of Latin origin, and comes from the word Lond, which means "Wild (that is, overgrown with forest) place";
The name is of Celtic origin, and consists of two words: Llyn (lake) and Dun ("dun", fortification): in the Celtic period the city was called Llyndid; the root "-dun" is also found in the name of many other Celtic place names;
The name comes from the ancient European word Plowonida, which means "overflowing river".

Informal names for London

The British often call London The Big Smoke (or The Great Smog). This name can be literally translated as "Big Smoke". This definition is connected, of course, with the famous London smog of the 19th-20th centuries. Another informal name for the city is The Great Wen. Wen is an old English word that literally translates to "boil", which in this context means "overcrowded city". As for neighborhood nicknames, the City is sometimes jokingly referred to as "the square mile".

History of London

Founding of the city and the Roman period

London was founded in 43 AD. e. , during the invasion of Britain by the Romans, led by Emperor Claudius. There is a theory that by the time of the invasion there was a large settlement in this territory, but nothing of the kind was found during archaeological excavations. However, most of the historical center has not been excavated, and the existence of the settlement before the invasion cannot be completely denied.

At first, London occupied a very small area. In the 19th century, archaeologists found that the length of the city from east to west was about 1 mile (about 1.6 km), and from north to south - about 0.5 miles (about 0.8 km).

Approximately 60 AD. e. the city was attacked by the British queen Boudicca (Boadicea) and a significant part of London was set on fire. The Romans responded by capturing some 80,000 Britons. Shortly thereafter, a battle took place between the Britons and the Romans. According to the established opinion, the battle took place on the site of the modern King's Cross station, and Boudicca, having been defeated, committed suicide by taking poison.

The Romans rebuilt the city in a few years, according to a clear urban plan. Londinium soon became one of the most important settlements in Roman Britain. In the 2nd century, it reached its peak - by the year 100, Londinium became the capital of Britain, replacing Colchester, the population was about 60,000 people. The most important administrative buildings were located in the city.

Around the year 200, Britain was divided into two parts - Upper and Lower. Londinium became the capital of Upper Britannia. Around the same time, the so-called Roman Wall was built - a defensive fortification along the perimeter of the city, the remains of which have been preserved in the center of modern London. At the end of the 4th century, Britain was divided anew, and Londinium became the capital of the province of Maximus Caesarensis. In the 5th century, the Romans left Londinium, and the city was gradually settled by the Britons.

Saxon period and Middle Ages

In the middle of the 6th century, Lundenburg ("London Fortification", the Saxon name for Londinium) was incorporated into the East Saxon kingdom. In 604, King Saebert converted to Christianity, and a bishop appeared in the city for the first time. The first bishop of London was called Melitius. At the same time, St. Paul's Cathedral was built. Presumably, initially it was a rather modest chapel. The cathedral was later destroyed by the pagan heirs of Saebert.

At the end of the 7th century, about one and a half kilometers from Lundenburg, the Saxon settlement of Lundevik (that is, the London settlement) was founded. Apparently, in Lundevik there was a harbor for merchant ships and fishing boats.

Since 730, the city came under the rule of Mercia, a large English kingdom. In the 9th century, Lundenburg was attacked by the Vikings. They controlled the city for twenty years, after which King Alfred the Great made peace with the invaders. However, in 1013 Lundenburg was again occupied by the Vikings and was under their rule until 1042.

In 1066, after the victory at Hastings, William the Conqueror became king of England. The coronation took place in the newly completed Westminster Abbey. William gave the people of London certain privileges over the people of other cities. During his reign, a fortification was built in the southeast of the city, now known as the Tower. In 1097 his son William II began the construction of Westminster Hall, which served as the basis for the Palace of Westminster. In 1176, the construction of the famous London Bridge began, which lasted about 600 years.

In May 1216, London was occupied for the last time by foreign troops - the city was captured by the French king Louis VIII, ending the reign of John Landless. Later, his own barons rebelled against Louis, and with their help, power in the country again passed into the hands of the British. Thus, London is the only European capital that has not been captured by the enemy even once in the last almost 8 centuries.

The plague that raged in Europe in the 14th century did not bypass London. The Black Death came to England in 1348. The exact number of deaths in London is unknown, but it is estimated that between 30,000 and 50,000 people became victims of the plague.

The epidemic became an indirect cause of the peasant uprising led by Wat Tyler (1381), during which London was plundered and devastated. The peasants stormed the Tower, killed the Lord Chancellor (an important public office in medieval England), the Archbishop of Canterbury Simon and the keeper of the royal treasury. The uprising was eventually crushed by the royal troops, and Tyler himself was sentenced to death.

In the Middle Ages, London was divided into two main parts - the administrative and political Westminster and the commercial city. This division continues to this day. For the Middle Ages, London could be considered a large city - by 1300, approximately 80,000 people lived in it. City self-government was also formed - the Lord Mayor became the head of London.

London in the 16th-18th centuries

With the advent of the Tudor dynasty in England, the era of absolute monarchy began. The centralization of power in the hands of the king led to the fact that the capital began to develop and grow rich even faster than before. The reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI had a favorable effect on the city - the famous London parks Hyde Park and Kensington Garden were founded and several large hospitals were opened.

The reformation that took place in England under Henry VIII did not end, unlike in other countries, with bloodshed: here, church reforms were controlled by the king and were initiated “from above”, and not “from below”, as in most other countries. After the Reformation, about half the area of ​​London was occupied by religious buildings and about a third of the population were monks. The situation changed in 1538-41, after Henry VIII issued a law on the supremacy of the king over the church. After that, a significant part of the church property was confiscated and transferred into the hands of the king and his closest vassals.

London has developed into one of the largest trading centers in Europe. Small businesses prospered in the city, and large English owners conducted their trade all over the world - from Russia to America. Giant companies were created, such as the East India Company in 1600. After the Spanish captured and sacked the large Dutch city of Antwerp in 1572, London became the largest trading center on the North Sea. The population of the capital increased rapidly - from 50,000 people in 1530 to 225,000 in 1605. Also in the 16th century, the first maps of London appeared. The first public theaters appeared, the most popular of which was the Globe, which played plays by William Shakespeare.

In the 16th century, aristocrats and courtiers began to settle in the West End. Soon the area became one of the most prestigious places in the city. Until now, a house in the West End is a ticket to the high society of London.

During the English Civil War, London sided with Parliament. Militia troops were raised and defensive fortifications erected to protect the city from the Royalists, who moved closer and closer to the capital - the Battle of Brentford took place just a few miles from London. However, a well-organized defense did not allow the royal troops to take the city, which played a decisive role in the war - the wealth stored in London helped Parliament win.

In London, as in all European cities of that time, there was no sewerage and health care system, in addition, the city was heavily overpopulated, and therefore epidemics regularly broke out there with many hundreds, and sometimes thousands of victims. But the worst happened in the middle of the 17th century, in 1665-1666. In England it is called the Great Plague. In London, about 60,000 people (a fifth of the city) became victims of the epidemic. Samuel Pepys, the city's chronicler, wrote the following on September 4, 1665: "More than 7,400 people died in a week, 6,000 of them from the plague. Day night, almost without interruption, the funeral ringing of church bells is heard from the street.

Immediately after the end of the epidemic, another catastrophe happened - the Great Fire of London in 1666. If the Great Plague mowed down the population of London, then the fire caused serious material damage, destroying 13,200 houses (about 60% of the city) and 87 churches (including the old St. Paul's Cathedral). Oddly enough, but only eight people died in the fire, but many were left without a home and lost all means of livelihood.

After the restoration, London finally turned into the financial capital of the world. In 1694, the Bank of England opened, allowing the country to further increase its influence on the world economy. In 1700, 80% of England's imports and 69% of its exports came from London, and the city's population exceeded 500,000.

In the 18th century, during the Enlightenment, the press and literature became widespread. Since then, Fleet Street has become the center of London's publishing life. In the same century, an increase in crime in the capital was noted, due to which punishments were toughened: even for a minor crime, the death penalty was now threatened.

In 1707, London acquired the status of the capital of Great Britain, a new state created by the union of England and Scotland. In the same 18th century, the new St. Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace, symbols of modern London, were built, as well as Westminster Bridge, which became only the second bridge in London over the Thames. By the end of the 18th century, the population of London reached a million people.

London in the 19th century

19th century London is a city of contrasts. On the one hand, it was the capital of the largest state in the world - the British Empire, the economic and political center of the world, and on the other hand, a city where millions of poor people lived in slums, practically without a livelihood.

XIX century - the era of rapid industrialization and urbanization in Europe and North America. In this century, a huge number of new factories and factories were built in London, and the population increased by 6 times. In the XIX century London was the largest city in the world, by 1900 its population was about 6 million people. Entire industrial districts appeared in the capital, and the most famous of them is the East End, which has become the opposite of the fashionable West End. I must say, from the point of view of the English language, this is quite logical: the East End (English East End) is translated as "Eastern Territory", and the West End (English West End) - as "Western Territory", that is, even etymologically these two districts represent two edges, two sides of one city.

In the XIX century, cardinal changes took place in the appearance of London. In 1836, the first railway was opened, connecting London Bridge and Greenwich, and in less than 20 years 6 stations were opened. In 1863, the world's first subway appeared in London. In addition, Big Ben, Albert Hall, the Trafalgar Square complex, Tower Bridge were built in the 19th century. For the first time in the history of London, there was sewage (see Great Stench).

In the 19th century, the system of city self-government was reformed, since the old system, which had existed since the Middle Ages, clearly did not meet the requirements of an overgrown metropolis. In 1855, the Metropolitan Board of Works was created to oversee urban development and infrastructure. In 1888, this body was liquidated, and administrative functions were for the first time assigned to an elected body - the London District Council (Eng. London County Council).

In 1851, London hosted the World's Fair.

In the middle of the century, London faced mass immigration for the first time. A particularly large influx of visitors came from Ireland. A large Jewish community also formed in the city.

London in the 20th - early 21st centuries

The First World War temporarily suspended the development of London. The city was hit by air raids for the first time. Between the two world wars, London continued to grow, but more in area than in population.

In the 1930s, many residents of the city suffered due to the Great Depression: the unemployment rate rose sharply, the standard of living fell. The inability of the authorities to do anything led to the emergence of many radical parties of both left and right directions. Most of them were based in the working-class East End. The Communists won several seats in the British Parliament, and the British Union of Fascists also enjoyed wide support. The struggle between left and right culminated in the so-called "Battle of Cable Street" - street fighting between political extremists on both flanks and the police.

In the same 30s, many Jews fled to London from Nazi Germany. During the Second World War, the capital of Great Britain was subjected to repeated air bombardments, the heaviest of which occurred in September 1940 and May 1941. Many residents were evacuated from the capital. Subway stations served as bomb shelters. In total, during the war in London, 30,000 civilians became its victims, 50,000 were injured, tens of thousands of houses were destroyed.

Immediately after the war, London hosted the Olympic Games for the second time (1948).

In the post-war period, London lost its status as the largest port in the UK, as the equipment of the docks was outdated and the port could not serve large cargo ships. London's water terminals were moved to the nearby towns of Felixstow and Tilbury, and the Docklands area was redeveloped in the 1980s to now house offices and apartment buildings.

In 1952, the Great Smog, an extremely harmful mixture of fog and industrial smoke, descended on London for five days. Soon, the concentration of combustion products in the air became so high that in the following weeks about 4,000 people died from smog in the city, and another 8,000 became victims of the disaster in the next few months. The incident forced the authorities to seriously address this problem, as a result of which a nationwide law "On Clean Air" (1956) was issued, as well as a similar city law (1954)

In the 1960s, thanks to popular musical groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, the city became one of the world's centers of youth subculture (earning the nickname "Swinging London"). In 1966, the England team won the World Cup in the final at Wembley Stadium.

London became a target for terrorists in the 1970s, when the city was first attacked by the Irish Republican Army. These attacks were regularly repeated until the end of the 20th century, after which the Irish group was replaced by Al-Qaeda, which organized a series of explosions in London public transport on July 7, 2005.

From the middle of the century, despite the influx of immigrants from the Commonwealth countries (especially from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh), the city's population began to decline, decreasing from almost 9 to 7 million people in the 1980s, after which it began to slowly grow.

London welcomed the new millennium with the opening of several new buildings, such as the Millennium Dome and the London Eye, the Ferris wheel that has become a new symbol of the city.

At the beginning of the 21st century, London won the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games. The UK capital will become the first city to host the Olympics three times.

In 2004, a plan for the development of the city was adopted. According to him, by 2016 the population of London should reach 8.1 million people, the number of skyscrapers should increase. The authorities also intend to improve the public transport system.

Geography and climate

London covers an area of ​​1706.8 km.

Coordinates: 51°30 s. sh. 0°00 W d. (G)

Thames

From the southwest to the east, the city is crossed by the Thames, a navigable river that flows into the North Sea. The Thames Valley is fertile and flat enough to allow London to expand evenly. Initially, the river was wider, and its banks were swampy and swampy, but due to human activity, all this has disappeared. The Thames is a tidal river and therefore there is a risk of flooding in London. In recent years, this danger has increased due to rising water levels in the river.

Climate

The climate in London is temperate maritime. Most days of the year are cloudy, although the rainfall is even less than in Rome or Sydney. Snow is rare even in winter. Record high temperature - +38 ° C (recorded in 2003).

Policy

London has been the capital of the country for almost two millennia: first of Roman Britain, then of England and Great Britain. All English and British kings ruled mainly from London, and the city has always been the center of the political life of the country.

Now all government authorities in the UK are located in London, in the Westminster area. The Government and Parliament of the country sit in the famous Parliament building, the not yet established Supreme Court of the country will be located in the Middlesex Guildhall Palace in the same area of ​​​​the capital.

The current Mayor of London (since 5 May 2008) is Conservative Boris Johnson. The previous mayor - Labor Ken Livingston - served as mayor for two terms: in 2000 he was elected to the post as an independent candidate, in 2004 he won the election, nominated from the Labor Party.

London is represented in the House of Commons of the British Parliament by 74 deputies, of which 44 are Labor, 21 Conservatives, 8 Liberal Democrats and 1 member of the RESPECT party.

Administrative division and city self-government

The city government of London has a rather complex structure. It has, as it were, two tiers - the first is city government, the second is local. City administration is carried out by the Great London Authority (GLA for short), local administrations are local administrations of municipal districts. The city administration is responsible for strategic planning, economic development of the city, police, fire service and transport, local - for local planning, schools, social services, etc.

In turn, the Greater London Authority consists of two parts. The first is the mayor of the city, representing the executive branch, the second is the London City Assembly, which limits the powers of the mayor and approves the city's annual budget. The Greater London Administration appeared recently, in 2000, instead of the Greater London Council, which was abolished in 1986 (thus, the city existed for 14 years without a central authority).

Administratively, London is divided into 33 districts, which include 32 municipal districts, designated by the special word borough and the City. Each district has its own administration and district council, which is elected every four years. There is no district administration in the City, but there is a traditional authority in the district - the Corporation of London, which has been preserved almost unchanged since the Middle Ages. In addition, the City has its own police force, independent of the City.

List of administrative boroughs of London

City
Westminster
Kensington and Chelsea
Hammersmith and Fulham
Wandsworth
Lambeth
Southwark
Tower Hamlets
Hackney
Islington
Camden
Brent
Ealing
Hounslow
richmond
Kingston upon Thames
Merton
Sutton
Croydon
Bromley
Lewisham
Greenwich
Bexley
Havering
Barking and Dagenham
Redbridge
Newham
Waltham Forest
Haringi
infield
Barnet
harrow
Hillingdon

Economy

London is the most important economic and financial center of Great Britain and Europe, one of the world's financial centers. The city's gross regional product in 2004 was $365 billion (17% of UK GDP). The economic importance of the entire London agglomeration is even higher - the regional product in 2004 amounted to $642 billion.

The most important branch of the city's economy is finance, including banking services, insurance, asset management; The headquarters of the largest banks and financial companies, including such as HSBC, Reuters, Barclays, are located in London. One of the world's largest centers of currency and stock trading is the London Stock Exchange. For centuries, the city's business district has been the focus of urban financial life.

The second most important industry in the economy of London is information. The capital is home to the headquarters of the BBC, one of the largest media corporations in the world. The most popular newspapers are published in London, including The Times, published with almost 700,000 copies daily, The Sun, The Daily Mirror and others.

Many British and multinational companies are headquartered in London, including BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Unilever, Corus Group, SABMiller, Cadbury Schweppes and others. More than 100 of the top 500 largest European companies are headquartered in the British capital.

London remains one of the largest industrial centers in Britain. The industry of the city and its suburbs is represented by mechanical engineering (automotive industry, electronics, machine tool building, shipbuilding and ship repair, etc.), light, food, oil refining and petrochemical industries, printing, etc. are widely developed.

Tourism is one of the most important sources of income for London. In 2003, this industry provided permanent employment for 300,000 people. For a year, visitors leave 5 billion in London. In terms of popularity among tourists, the city is second only to Paris.

Despite the fact that London was once one of the largest ports in Europe, now even in the UK it is only in third place. The annual cargo turnover is 50 million tons of cargo.

The heart of economic London is the City. Also, many offices of various companies are located in the Piccadilly Circus area.

Demography

The population of London increased most rapidly in the 19th and early 20th centuries, during the period of urbanization. From about 1825 to 1925, London was the most populous city in the world, after which it was overtaken by New York. The population of London reached its highest level in its history in 1939 (about 8.6 million people). Now it is the second most populated city in Europe (after Moscow) and the twenty-first city in the world.

The first census took place in 1801. Earlier figures have been calculated by historians and archaeologists.

Ethnic composition

During the 2001 census, 71% of Londoners identified themselves as white (Caucasoid) race, of which 60% considered themselves British (that is, English, Scots, Welsh), 3% - Irish (the rest are white - 8.5%); 10% of Londoners are from South Asia and the Middle East; 11% - representatives of the Negroid race (5.5% - Africans, 5% - Caribbeans, 1% - the rest); 1% are Chinese, 2% are other nationalities (for the most part, these are Filipinos, Japanese, Vietnamese). 27% of Londoners were born outside the EU.

Religious composition

Of the beliefs, Christianity is the most popular - 58.2%. It is followed by Islam - 7.8%; Hinduism - 4.1%; Judaism - 2.1% and Sikhism - 1.5%. There are quite a few atheists in London - 15.8%.

The places of compact residence of London Muslims are Tower Hamlets and Newham. A large Hindu community is located in the northwestern counties of Harrow and Brent, Sikhs live mainly in the eastern and western regions, and Jews live in Stamford Hill and Golders Green, located in northern London.

Transport

Most visitors to London enter the city through train stations. Many of them were built in the 19th century and served as the prototype for train stations throughout Europe. London's busiest stations include Waterloo (trains from the southwestern counties), Victoria (trains from the suburban counties), Paddington (trains from the western counties and Wales), St Pancras (trains from Europe) and King's Cross (trains from Scotland) .

London's public transport system is one of the busiest in the world, and therefore it has to constantly increase and thereby complicate. The next round of increasing the city's transport network is associated with preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The three main forms of public transport in London are buses, tubes and taxis.

Transport for London is responsible for London's urban transport. In particular, it operates the London underground, buses and trams and licenses city taxis and public water transport.

Buses are used for local transportation. There are 700 routes on which buses carry up to 6 million passengers on weekdays. The famous Routemaster model buses, which have become one of the symbols not only of London, but of the whole of Great Britain, were removed from linear operation in 2005 and now go only on sightseeing routes.

The London Underground is the oldest in the world. It has been in continuous operation since 1863 and carries 3 million passengers daily, which is about 1 billion people a year. The London Underground consists of 12 lines, most of which link the city center with its outskirts. Londoners often refer to the Underground as a "pipe" because of the very small diameter of the deep tunnels.

In addition to the "classic" subway, since 1987, the Docklands Light Railway system has been operating in London, which can be called a light subway. Unlike the "classic" London Underground, the Docklands Light Railway route is laid mainly not in tunnels, but on overpasses. Docklands Light Railway trains run automatically. There are several transfer stations between the London Underground and the Docklands Light Railway.

London used to have an extensive tram system, but this was closed in 1952. Since 2000, Croydon, a suburb of London, has been operating a modern Tramlink tram system. There are plans to build new tram lines closer to the city centre: West London Tram and Cross River Tram (scheduled to open in 2016).

In addition to trams, London also had a trolleybus service, which was discontinued in 1962. However, there are plans to restore the trolleybus service.

There is also public water transport in London. The city's waterway system is known as the London River Services. Some routes are aimed at tourists, while others are more commonly used by Londoners themselves as regular public transport, such as commuting to work. Although London River Services is licensed by Transport for London, it is operated by private firms and bus and tube passes are not valid on London's waterways (although they may offer discounts).

"Classic" taxi in London

London's famous black taxis look exactly the same as they did seventy years ago, except for the advertising that now covers many of these cars. Now in London, newer models and more modern looking cars are also used as taxis. It is worth noting that, unlike most major cities, in London all taxis are controlled by the city administration, or rather the municipal service Transport for London.

Closer to the outskirts of the city, traffic on the streets is predominantly automobile. There are several high-speed routes in London, the inner ring road. A fee is charged for the entry of private cars into the city center (since 2005 - £8, about 400 rubles).

There are five airports in London: Heathrow, the world's busiest airport, another major airport, Gatwick, small Stansted and Luton, and London City, intended mainly for business charter flights.

Education

About 378,000 students study in London, 125,000 of them at the University of London. This university is the largest in the UK and includes 20 colleges and several institutes. Other major institutions of higher education: London Metropolitan University, University of East London, University of Westminster, South Bank University, City University, Middlesex University, New London College, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Museums and libraries

The center of London's museums is the South Kensington area, which houses the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum (the world's largest collection of arts and crafts and design). Other notable museums are the British Museum, which has a collection of about 7.5 million pieces; the London National Gallery, one of the world's most respected art museums; the famous Wax Museum Madame Tussauds; Sherlock Holmes Museum. You can call the museum and the current royal residence - Buckingham Palace, part of the premises of which is open to visitors, usually one month a year (August-September). Also sightseeing tours are held in the Houses of Parliament, the Tower, London cathedrals. The National British Library is located in London.

Theaters

Several major commercial theaters specializing in musicals, comedies and dramas are located in the West End. There is even a special term West End theatre, which is used in England to refer to entertainment commercial theaters of the Broadway type. Of the classical theaters, the National Theater in the South Bank area, the new Globe Theater and the Theater at the Royal Court should be noted.

London's classical music theaters are widely known in the world: the famous Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the Royal Albert Hall, the Elizabeth II Theatre.

Famous streets and squares

Piccadilly (street and square) is the economic center of the city. The walls of the houses on the square are covered with advertisements. In the middle (but not in the geometric center) of Piccadilly Circus is a fountain and the famous sculpture of Anteros, popularly called Eros.
Trafalgar Square is dedicated to the defeat of the Spanish-French fleet in 1805. In the middle of the square is a monument in honor of Horatio Nelson, the admiral who commanded the English fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar. Trafalgar Square is home to the London National Gallery.
Oxford Street is a shopping street. There are boutiques and shopping centers here.
Harley Street is a street in Westminster that became famous as a street of doctors - many doctors still practice on this Harley Street.
Abbey Road is famous for the recording studio of the same name, where many legendary musicians made their recordings: The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Manfred Mann and others. The Beatles released an album in 1969 called Abbey Road.
Baker Street is the street where the Sherlock Holmes Museum is located.

temples

The dominant religion in London is Christianity, practiced by over half of the city's population. Therefore, most of the churches in the capital are Christian, mostly Anglican. Almost no medieval churches survived - most were destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666. The symbols of London have long been St. Paul's Cathedral, built at the beginning of the 18th century, and Westminster Abbey. In these churches, services are conducted according to the Anglican rites. Do not confuse Westminster Abbey with nearby Westminster Cathedral, which is the largest Catholic church in England.

Central London Mosque is located in Regents Park. The Neasden Temple in Brent is one of the largest Hindu places of worship in Europe.

There are two Russian Orthodox churches. Central is the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God and All Saints, located next to the Knightsbridge metro station.

Entertainment

Oxford Street is London's most famous shopping destination, but it's not the city's only shopping street: Bond Street in Mayfair and Knightsbridge, home to the famous Harrod's shopping centre, are also popular with Londoners and tourists. Fashion stores can be found in the same Mayfair, on Carnaby Street in Soho and on King's Road in Chelsea.

In London, you can find many restaurants for every taste. The most expensive ones are in Westminster, the more democratic ones are in Soho. Restaurants specializing in the national cuisine of different nations are scattered throughout the city, the most famous of them are Chinese in London's Chinatown and Bangladeshi on Bricklein Street.

One of the most famous places in London is Soho - a small area with bars, restaurants, pubs and shops. Among other things, Soho is known for its macabre establishments, including brothels and nightclubs. Soho also has several gay clubs and pubs.

Fashion in London

London became one of the centers of world fashion in the 19th century. The capital of Great Britain, unlike Paris or Milan, has become famous thanks to men's fashion. Savile Row became the street of fashion workshops. By the beginning of the century before last, the appearance of the dandy style, which spread throughout Europe, dates back.

Here is my Onegin at large:
Shaved in the latest fashion
How dandy London is dressed -
And finally saw the light.

(A. S. Pushkin)

The second round of popularity of English fashion came at the beginning of the 1960s, when a cultural revolution took place in Western European society. Disharmony, asymmetry, protesting against the conservative bourgeois way of life, came to the fore. The casual style is developing, it is quickly becoming popular among various youth movements: fashion, skinheads, football hooligans. Ben Sherman was the innovator of the style, in addition, the retired tennis player Fred Perry, the British analogue of the Frenchman Rene Lacoste, who also once won all kinds of tennis awards with a racket at the ready, and devoted himself to fashion in retirement, was very popular. The leading designers of youth fashion were Mary Quant and Barbara Hulanicki. The 1970s became the era of punks. Vivienne Westwood became the leader among English designers. Modern leading designers of British fashion - Paul Smith, Alexander McQueen, Julian Macdonald.

London hosts an annual Haute Couture Week since the early 1990s, the number of shows during the week has increased from 15 to 50.

Subculture of London

The population of London is so large that internal traditions, currents and dialects were bound to appear in it, which together constitute the phenomenon of subculture. The role of London in the life of Great Britain is such that it has always become the center of informal youth movements in the country.

Swinging London

Swinging London was a London youth subculture in the 1960s. The term was born in 1966 thanks to an article in Time magazine. This period is characterized by the youth's rejection of traditional values, hedonism and optimism. The period of "swinging London" was reflected in music, literature, fine arts, not to mention the lifestyle. The rock musicians The Beatles, the literary character of Ian Fleming James Bond, the Mini Cooper car became real cultural icons of this time. The period of swinging London ended around 1967, when it was replaced by the hippie subculture that came from the US West Coast.

Cool Britannia

A significant phenomenon in the cultural life of Great Britain in the 1990s was the period of Cool Britannia (“Cool Britain”). Its beginning (perhaps not by chance) coincided with the coming to power in the country of the Labor Party, headed by Tony Blair. The period is characterized by a rise in patriotism, as well as a general interest in British culture, which was reflected, in particular, in music, fashion, cinema, and also in the architecture of the city. Many new heroes of London gained worldwide fame: model Kate Moss, Blur, Suede, who performed music in the Britpop style that gained wide popularity, new pop stars Robbie Williams, Spice Girls, East 17, film director Guy Ritchie.

London dialects

The most famous London vernacular, common among the lower social strata of the city's population, is cockney. Cockney is characterized by a simplified pronunciation of words, incorrect use or omission of some sounds. The Cockney dialect in England is often the subject of anecdotes and jokes.

Another well-known type of local pronunciation is Estuary English, which is common not only in London, but also in the Thames basin as a whole. In addition, with the influx of immigrants from Central America, the Jamaican Creole dialect became widespread.

London architecture

The architecture of London is represented by all styles from Norman to postmodernism. Many medieval buildings, however, have not survived, mainly due to the Great Fire of 1666, which destroyed over 13,000 buildings, and air raids during World War II.

Norman architecture was brought to England by William the Conqueror. Of the buildings of the Norman style in London, the Tower is known, which began to be built under William and was repeatedly completed by other kings.

The 13th century was the century of early English Gothic. One of the brightest examples of this style is Westminster Abbey. No other examples from this period have survived in London. Following the early era came the era of decorated English Gothic, but there are no examples of it in modern London, as well as examples of vertical Gothic - the third Gothic period of English architecture.

The Tudor period logically ended the Middle Ages. The architecture of the Tudor era is similar to the Gothic, but with significant changes such as deep and tall windows. The Henry VII Chapel in Westminster and the Hampton Court Palace in Richmond are architectural monuments of the Tudor period.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the founder of the English architectural tradition, Inigo Jones, worked in London. He instilled in British architecture the ideas of Palladianism (classism), which are based on geometry, conciseness, functionality, elegance, the absence of small details and other architectural excesses. Of the works of Jones in London, only two have survived - the Banquet Hall in Whitehall and the chapel of St. James's Palace.

In the second half of the 17th century, Jones was replaced by Christopher Wren. It was he who drew up a plan to rebuild London after the Great Fire. In addition, Wren designed hospitals in Greenwich and Chelsea, the famous St. Paul's Cathedral and dozens of other buildings.

Georgian architecture, whose era began in the middle of the 18th century, generally corresponded to pan-European classicism. In it, the main thing was clear forms and proportions. This period is not represented in London by any famous buildings, but many residential and administrative buildings of the city were built in the Georgian style. Worth noting are the churches designed by Nicholas Hawkesmoor, Somerset House (Sir William Chambers) and the Pantheon entertainment center on Oxford Street by architect James Wyatt.

The 19th century differs from the previous ones in a variety of styles. The famous Parliament building with Big Ben and Victoria towers on it was built in the neo-Gothic style; the famous John Nash, the author of the Trafalgar Square complex, Buckingham Palace and Marble Arch, worked in the style of classicism; Westminster Cathedral is an example of neo-Byzantine style. The now defunct Crystal Palace belonged to the industrial style.

In the 20th century, skyscrapers appeared in the city: the Lloyd's building in the City, the Canary Wharf complex in the Docklands. At the end of the last - the beginning of this century, Norman Foster became the leading British architect, who built the SwissRe ("Cucumber") skyscraper in London and New City Hall, the City Hall building.

Traditions and ceremonies

Great Britain is known as a country of traditions. Many of them have survived from ancient times, and Londoners invariably honor them.
The changing of the guard at the Royal Buckingham Palace is one of London's most famous and popular tourist traditions. This ceremony takes place daily at 11:30 from April to August, at the same time at other times of the year, but every other day. Of course, there is no practical benefit from the changing of the guard, but this tradition is one of the most beautiful in London.
The Ceremony of the Keys is a 700-year-old closing ritual of the Tower, performed by its chief guardian at exactly 21:50 every day.

Royal gun salutes are fired on special occasions, which include the Queen's accession day (February 6), the Queen's birthday (April 21), coronation day (June 2), the birthday of the Duke of Edinburgh (June 10). If the holiday falls on a Sunday, fireworks are fired the next day.
The Thames Festival takes place in mid-September and includes a parade torchlight procession, fairs, fireworks and concerts.
Speakers' corner is located in Hyde Park. Everyone there can climb any elevation and practice oratory on any topic. Now this tradition is in decline - it has become a common tourist attraction, and few speakers speakers are almost inaudible due to the noise of cars on nearby Park Lane (the use of microphones in the speaker's corner is prohibited by tradition).
Except Easter, Christmas and New Year, all holidays in England fall strictly on Mondays. New Year - January 1, is celebrated in the family circle with a traditional apple pie. Easter is always celebrated in April; organ music concerts are held in Catholic churches on this day. Easter Monday - on this day it is customary to congratulate each other on Easter, give gifts, give sweets and toys to children on the streets.

Sport

Arsenal Football Club - FA Cup Winner

London has hosted the Summer Olympics twice (1908, 1948) and will do so for the third time in 2012. The UK capital will become the first city in the world to host three Olympics.

In the most popular sport in the UK and the world - football - London clubs have made great strides. Despite the fact that traditionally the strongest teams in England have always been Liverpool and Manchester United, the capital is most widely represented - by five clubs at once - in the English Premier League. These teams are: Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham. At the moment, Arsenal and Chelsea are among the strongest clubs in Europe and the world. Chelsea have won the Premier League twice in recent years and were a UEFA Champions League finalist in 2008, while Arsenal have won 13 Premier League titles and reached the Champions League final in 2006. London is represented by four clubs in the English Rugby Championship.

Wembley

The city's largest stadium, Wembley, was reopened in May 2007 after a long renovation. The first match at the renovated stadium took place on 19 May between Chelsea and Manchester United. Wembley hosts the finals of the FA Cup and the Challenge Cup (a major national rugby tournament). Wembley is also the home ground of the English football team. Cricket matches are played at Owal and St. John's Wood.

In London, or rather, in its suburb of Wimbledon, the tennis tournament of the same name is held annually.

Russians in London

For more than 450 years there have been state and trade relations between England and Russia.

The first Russian guests in the capital of England were diplomats and royalty. Back in the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I received ambassadors from Muscovy in the gardens of the London suburbs of Richmond and Greenwich (the ambassadors then indignantly reported to Moscow that the queen received them "in the garden").

The first Russian residents appeared in London in the 17th century, when young people sent by Boris Godunov for training refused to return home and remained in the English capital.

At the end of the 17th century, London was visited by the Great Embassy, ​​a member of which was under the name of Peter Mikhailov and Tsar Peter I. The future emperor spent about two months in England. He worked the longest at the shipyard in Deptford, but also managed to inspect several factories, the mint, the Greenwich Observatory and meet Isaac Newton.

The Russian ambassador to England in 1784-1806 remained in the memory of Londoners. Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov. Thanks to Vorontsov, a war between Russia and Great Britain was avoided, when the British authorities were already ready to send a fleet to help Turkey (see the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1792). Now in honor of Vorontsov in London the street is called Vorontsov Road (Eng. Woronzow Road).

In the 19th century, London became the center of the Russian free press - the magazines Kolokol, Nakanune, Narodovolets, Bread and Freedom were published in it, which were then secretly transferred to Russia. At that time, a considerable Russian colony was formed in London. The most famous Russian Londoners of the 19th century are Alexander Ivanovich Herzen and Nikolai Platonovich Ogaryov. Since 1876, the revolutionary Prince Peter Kropotkin lived in London.

Great Britain became a refuge for emigrants from Russia in the 20th century. In 1903, the second congress of the banned RSDLP party was held in London, at which it split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. Therefore, after the 1917 revolution, the influx of emigrants was, compared with Paris, Nice or Prague, small. It is worth mentioning only Pavel Nikolayevich Milyukov, the chairman of the Cadets.

In 2005, according to unofficial data, about 200 thousand people of the Russian-speaking population lived in London. The National Health Service of Great Britain, which mandatory collects data on the nationality of patients, reports 40,000 patients who identified themselves as Russians. According to Mark Hollingsworth and Stuart Lensle, authors of Londongrad or From Russia with Money (2009), 300,000 Russians live in London, including about 100 super-rich people. Five newspapers are published in Russian, there are more than five Russian schools, several Orthodox churches (parishes of the Diocese of Sourozh, ROCOR, and the Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople), there are shops where you can buy "traditional" Russian products; Russian doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc. offer their services. There are also Russian restaurants aimed at both emigrants and London exotic lovers. Since 2007, the Pushkin House has been operating in the center of London - an unofficial Russian cultural center, where lectures on Russian culture are held, Russian films are shown, Russian language classes are conducted, a library operates, exhibitions, presentations, concerts and receptions are organized. Pushkin House is owned by the Pushkin House Trust, which is a UK registered independent charity (number 313111) dedicated to promoting the Russian language and culture. "Pushkin House" became the heir to the famous "Pushkin Club", which existed in London since 1955 and carried out similar activities.

In addition, London is known as the place of residence of several Russian billionaires at once - the owner of the Chelsea football club Roman Abramovich (who, however, is recognized as a tax non-resident, since he spent only 57 full days in the UK in 2007), Oleg Deripaska, Vladimir Gusinsky. In addition, such ambiguously perceived persons as Boris Berezovsky and Akhmed Zakayev live in London.

There are two monuments dedicated to Russians in London:
The memorial to Soviet soldiers and citizens who died during the Second World War was opened on May 9, 1999 in Geraldine Mary Park near the British Imperial War Museum in London. The monument by the Russian sculptor Sergei Shcherbakov is a three-meter bronze monument in the form of a woman bowing her head, above which there is a freely suspended bell, and at the foot of the monument there is a granite slab with words of memory. Every year, on May 9, surviving veterans, representatives of states from different countries, as well as everyone who wants to pay tribute to the memory of this Great Victory, lay flowers at the monument.
The monument to Peter the Great was opened in 2001 in the London district of Deptford, in that place on the banks of the River Thames, where Peter I lived for some time in 1698. The monument was created by sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin and architect Vyacheslav Bukhaev.

Famous Londoners

Politicians

Henry VIII
Elizabeth I
Charles II
George III
Victoria
George V
Elizabeth II

Artists

William Turner
Alfred Hitchcock
Kelly Osbourne

Scientists

Michael Faraday
Charles Darwin

actors

Alan Rickman
Tom Sturridge
Emma Thompson
Tilda Swinton
Helen Mirren
David Suchet
Helena Bonham Carter
Robert Pattison
Tim Roth
Jude Law
Ben Barnes

Quotes

"London is a wonderful place if you can get away from it" (Arthur Balfour)
"The fogs of London did not exist until art discovered them" (Oscar Wilde)
“It's good that you smoke. Every man needs something to do. And there are too many idlers in London.” (Oscar Wilde)
"Even flattened by his fellows on the London Underground, the Englishman desperately pretends to be alone here" (Germaine Greer)
"If you're tired of London, you're tired of life" (Samuel Johnson)

Initially, it was a small settlement with an area of ​​about 0.8 km2. By the year 100, London had become the capital of Britain and reached its peak in the 2nd century. After the departure of the Romans, London was abandoned and fell into disrepair. In the 6th century, the Saxons began to settle around and by the end of the 9th century, the old center of London began to recover. In subsequent centuries, under changing rulers, London was the center of the territory that transformed into Great Britain.

London grew a lot during the 19th century. During the Second World War, the city was seriously damaged, after which many historical areas were replaced by new ones. Currently, London is one of the economic and legal centers of the world; the headquarters of leading international companies are located on its territory.

Encyclopedic YouTube

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✪ London. Biography of the city - 1 episode

✪ London. Biography of the city - 2 series

✪ Great cities: London

✪ Tim Marlow: "The history of London's Royal Academy of Arts in faces"

✪ Londinium - how London began

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Etymology

Name etymology London not determined. There are many different theories about the origin of the name: most of them are implausible and unfounded, and some seem to be plausible. But none of the versions has sufficient evidence.

Under the Romans, the city was called Londinium. The name is believed to be pre-Roman (and possibly pre-Celtic), but there are no confirmed theories about its meaning. The Romans very often adopted the names of cities and territories adopted from the indigenous peoples. The generally accepted theory is that the name comes from a Celtic place-name Londinion from the word London meaning "wild".

The Anglo-Saxons founded their settlement of Lundenvik not far from the city abandoned by the Romans. The first part of the word was taken from the old name, and the suffix vic in Old English meant "trading town", so Lundenwyck meant "London trading town".

In 886 Alfred occupied the territory of London and again turned it into a populated place. For the defense of the kingdom, he began to build fortified settlements, which in the Anglo-Saxon language were called "burh". London became one of these settlements under the name of Ludenburg (Ludenburh). Later, this name was transformed by cutting off the second root into the modern name of the city. After the Norman Conquest, the city was called for some time in French-language sources Lundres, in Latin - Lundonia .

Among the unofficial names of the city: The Big Smoke And The Great Wen. The British once called London The Big Smoke(or The Great Smog). This name can be literally translated as "Big Smoke". This definition is connected, of course, with the famous London smog of the XIX-XX centuries. Another unofficial name for the city is The Great Wen. Wen is an old English word that translates literally as "boil", which in this context means "overcrowded city". As for neighborhood nicknames, the City is often also referred to as the "square mile" because the area is just over a square mile in area. These two trails are also used to generically refer to the financial sector of the British economy, since most financial companies and banks have traditionally been concentrated in the City for several centuries.

Early history

Founding legend

According to the legend from The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth, London was founded by Brutus of Troy after his victory over the giants Gog and Magog and was named Caer Troia, Troia Nova(from Latin New Troy), which, according to pseudo-etymology, was renamed Trinovantum. The Trinovantes were a tribe that inhabited the area before the arrival of the Romans.

However, despite intensive excavations, archaeologists have not found any signs of a powerful prehistoric tribe in this area. There were found prehistoric finds, evidence of agriculture, burials and traces of habitation, but nothing more significant. It is currently considered unlikely that a pre-Roman city existed, but Roman settlements have not been fully explored, and accurate data have not yet been obtained.

Londinium

At the end of the 3rd century, Londinium was raided several times by Saxon pirates. Because of this, around the year 250, several additional walls were built along the river. The wall stood for 1600 years and defined the modern perimeter of London. 6 of the 7 traditional gates of London were built by the Romans, namely: Ludgate, Newgate, Aldersgate, Cripplegate, Bishopsgate and Aldgate. At the end of the 4th century, Britain was divided anew, and Londinium became the capital of the province of Maximus Caesarensis. In the 5th century, the Romans left Londinium, and the city began to be gradually settled by the Britons. After that, the city was practically abandoned.

London in the Middle Ages

Anglo-Saxon London

Until recently, it was believed that Anglo-Saxon settlements were not built near Londinium. However, the Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Covent Garden, opened in 2008, showed that aliens began to settle there from the beginning of the 6th century. The main part of the settlement is located outside the city walls. It was known as Lundenvik, the suffix -vik here meaning a trading post. Recent excavations have also revealed the population density and relatively complex urban organization of early Anglo-Saxon London.

Early Anglo-Saxon London was inhabited by a people known as the Middle Saxons. However, at the beginning of the 7th century, the territory of the London area was included in the kingdom of Essex. In 604 King Sabert was baptized and Mellitus, the first bishop after the Romans, arrived in London. At this time, Ethelbert of Kent ruled in Essex, and under his patronage Mellitus founded the Cathedral of St. Paul. It is believed that the cathedral was built on the site of an old Roman temple to Diana (although Christopher Wren found no evidence of this). It was only a modest church, and it may have been destroyed after the expulsion of Mellitus by the sons of Sabert, who were pagans. The establishment of Christianity in the east of the Saxon kingdom took place during the reign of Sigebert II in the 650s. During the 8th century, the royal house of Mercia expanded its dominion over southeastern England. Mercian domination of London was established in the 730s.

London began to develop its own self-government. After Æthelred's death in 911, it became part of Wessex. Although it faced competition from the politically superior West Saxon center of Winchester, London's size and wealth made it an increasingly important center of political power. King Æthelstan held many meetings of the Witenagemot in London and issued his laws from there, while King Æthelred the Fool issued the laws of London in 978.

During the reign of Eltered, Viking attacks on London resumed. In 994, London was unsuccessfully attacked by an army led by King Sven Forkbeard of Denmark. In 1013, the Danish attack ended in failure for the British. London repulsed the Danish attacks, however, the rest of the country surrendered to Sven, but by the end of the year London capitulated and Æthelred fled abroad. Sven ruled for only five weeks, after which he died, Eltered again became king. But Sven's son Canute returned with an army in 1015. After Æthelred's death in 1016, his son Edmund Ironside was proclaimed king and left to gather strength in Wessex. London was besieged by Canute, but was liberated by the army of King Edmund. When Edmund returned to Essex, Canute attacked again, but without success. However, Cnut defeated Edmund at the Battle of Ashdown and conquered all of England north of the Thames, including London. After the death of Edmund Canute gained control over the whole country.

The Norwegian sagas tell of a battle that took place when King Ethelred returned to attack the Danish troops occupying London. According to the saga, the Danes lined up on London Bridge and showered the attackers with spears. Not afraid, the attackers removed the roofs from the nearby houses and, being on the ships, took cover with them. Protected, they were able to get close enough to the bridge to attach ropes to the bridge, throw off the Vikings, and liberate London from occupation. This story supposedly took place during the return of Eltered after the death of Sven in 1014, but there is no conclusive evidence for this.

After the suppression of the Canute dynasty in 1042, Anglo-Saxon rule was restored by Edward the Confessor. He founded Westminster Abbey and spent most of his time in Westminster, which from that time became the center of government. Edward's death led to a succession dispute and the conquest of England by the Normans. Earl Harold Godwinson was elected by the people's assembly and crowned in Westminster Abbey, but was soon defeated and killed by the Norman Duke William at the Battle of Hastings. The surviving members of the Witan met in London and elected the young Edgar Ætheling as the new king. The Normans advanced along the south bank of the Thames and stood opposite London. They defeated the English army and burned Southwark, but failed to take the bridge by storm. They moved upstream and crossed the river to attack London from the northwest. The resolve of the English collapsed, and representatives of the city, along with aristocrats and priests, came out to meet William to see him off to Berkhamsted. According to some reports, there were several skirmishes when the Normans reached the city. William was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

London in the High and Late Middle Ages

Under the Norman regime, new fortresses were built in the cities to subjugate the local population. The most important of these was the Tower in the east of the city, where the first stone castle in England appeared on the site of early wooden fortifications. King William issued a charter in 1067, establishing the rights, privileges and laws of the city.

In 1176, construction began on one of the most famous incarnations of London's Bridge (completed in 1209), which was built on the site of earlier wooden bridges. This bridge stood for 600 years, and remained the only bridge across the Thames until 1739.

Over the following centuries, Norman politics were actively implanted in England. The Norman Conquest introduced a feudal culture of chivalry into England based on its French models. The Old English language was ousted from the sphere of administration, and the Norman dialect of French became the language of administration and communication of the ruling social strata. For about three hundred years, the Anglo-Norman dialect dominated the country and had a great influence on the formation of modern English. In everyday life, however, French cultural and linguistic influence quickly dwindled to an indistinguishably small level. .

During a peasant uprising in 1381, London was captured by rebels led by Wat Tyler. The peasants seized the Tower of London and executed the Lord Chancellor, Archbishop Simon Sudbury and the Lord High Treasurer. The peasants plundered the city and set fire to many buildings. Tyler was killed during negotiations and the uprising subsided.

In 1100 the population of London was somewhat more than 15,000. In 1300 it had grown to 80,000. London lost at least half of its population during a plague in the mid-14th century, but its economic and political importance spurred a rapid recovery despite further plagues.

Medieval London had many narrow and winding streets, and most of the buildings were built from combustible materials such as wood and straw, making them a fire hazard. Sanitation in the city was poor.

New story

London under the Tudors (1485-1603)

Flights to London:

London is located on the prime meridian, which is also often called the Greenwich Meridian (after the area it crosses).

Two main areas: City (business center) and Westminster (administrative center).

The climate in London is temperate maritime. Most days of the year are cloudy, although the rainfall is even less than in Rome or Sydney. Snow is rare even in winter. Record high temperature - +38 C (recorded in 2003)

History of London

Founding of the city and the Roman period
London was founded in 43 AD. e., during the invasion of Britain by the Romans, led by Emperor Claudius. There is a theory that by the time of the invasion there was a large settlement in this territory, but nothing of the kind was found during archaeological excavations. However, most of the historical center has not been excavated, and the existence of the settlement before the invasion cannot be completely denied.

At first, London occupied a very small area. In the 19th century, archaeologists found that the length of the city from east to west was about 1 mile (about 1.6 km), and from north to south - about 0.5 miles (about 0.8 km).

Approximately 60 AD. e. the city was attacked by the British queen Boudicca (Boadicea) and a significant part of London was set on fire. The Romans responded by capturing some 80,000 Britons. Shortly thereafter, a battle took place between the Britons and the Romans. According to the established opinion, the battle took place on the site of the modern King's Cross station, and Boudicca, having been defeated, committed suicide by taking poison.

The Romans rebuilt the city in a few years, according to a clear urban plan. Londinium soon became one of the most important settlements in Roman Britain. In the 2nd century, it reached its peak - by the year 100, Londinium became the capital of Britain, replacing Colchester, the population was about 60,000 people. The most important administrative buildings were located in the city.

Around the year 200, Britain was divided into two parts - Upper and Lower. Londinium became the capital of Upper Britannia. Around the same time, the so-called Roman Wall was built - a defensive fortification along the perimeter of the city, the remains of which have been preserved in the center of modern London. At the end of the 4th century, Britain was divided anew, and Londinium became the capital of the province of Maximus Caesarensis. In the 5th century, the Romans left Londinium, and the city was gradually settled by the Britons.

Saxon period and Middle Ages
In the middle of the 6th century, Lundenburg ("London Fortification", the Saxon name for Londinium) was incorporated into the East Saxon kingdom. In 604, King Saebert converted to Christianity, and a bishop appeared in the city for the first time. The first bishop of London was called Melitius. At the same time, St. Paul's Cathedral was built. Presumably, initially it was a rather modest chapel. The cathedral was later destroyed by the pagan heirs of Saebert.

At the end of the 7th century, about one and a half kilometers from Lundenburg, the Saxon settlement of Lundevik (that is, the London settlement) was founded. Apparently, in Lundevik there was a harbor for merchant ships and fishing boats.

Since 730, the city came under the rule of Mercia, a large English kingdom. In the 9th century, Lundenburg was attacked by the Vikings. They controlled the city for twenty years, after which King Alfred the Great made peace with the invaders. However, in 1013 Lundenburg was again occupied by the Vikings and was under their rule until 1042.

In 1066, after the victory at Hastings, William the Conqueror became king of England. The coronation took place in the newly completed Westminster Abbey. William gave the people of London certain privileges over the people of other cities. During his reign, a fortification was built in the southeast of the city, now known as the Tower. In 1097 his son William II began the construction of Westminster Hall, which served as the basis for the Palace of Westminster. In 1176, the construction of the famous London Bridge began, which lasted about 600 years.

In May 1216, London was occupied for the last time by foreign troops - the city was captured by the French king Louis VIII, ending the reign of John Landless. Later, his own barons rebelled against Louis, and with their help, power in the country again passed into the hands of the British.

The plague that raged in Europe in the 14th century did not bypass London. The Black Death came to England in 1348. The exact number of deaths in London is unknown, but it is estimated that between 30,000 and 50,000 people became victims of the plague.

The epidemic became an indirect cause of the peasant uprising led by Wat Tyler (1381), during which London was plundered and devastated. The peasants stormed the Tower, killed the Lord Chancellor (an important public office in medieval England), the Archbishop of Sudbury Simon and the keeper of the royal treasury. The uprising was eventually crushed by the royal troops, and Tyler himself was sentenced to death.

In the Middle Ages, London was divided into two main parts - the administrative and political Westminster and the commercial city. This division continues to this day. For the Middle Ages, London could be considered a large city - by 1300, approximately 80,000 people lived in it. City self-government was also formed - the Lord Mayor became the head of London.

London in the 16th-18th centuries
With the advent of the Tudor dynasty in England, the era of absolute monarchy began. The centralization of power in the hands of the king led to the fact that the capital began to develop and grow rich even faster than before. The reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI had a favorable effect on the city - the famous London parks Hyde Park and Kensington Garden were founded and several large hospitals were opened.

The reformation that took place in England under Henry VIII did not end, unlike in other countries, with bloodshed: here, church reforms were controlled by the king and were initiated “from above”, and not “from below”, as in most other countries. After the Reformation, about half the area of ​​London was occupied by religious buildings and about a third of the population were monks. The situation changed in 1538-41, after Henry VIII issued a law on the supremacy of the king over the church. After that, a significant part of the church property was confiscated and transferred into the hands of the king and his closest vassals.

London has developed into one of the largest trading centers in Europe. Small businesses flourished in the city, and large English businessmen conducted their trade all over the world - from Russia to America. Giant companies were created, such as the East India Company in 1600. After the Spaniards captured and plundered the large Dutch city of Antwerp in 1572, London became the largest center of trade on the North Sea. The population of the capital increased rapidly - from 50,000 people in 1530 to 225,000 in 1605. Also in the 16th century, the first maps of London appeared. The first public theaters appeared, the most popular of which was the Globe, which played plays by William Shakespeare.

In the 16th century, aristocrats and courtiers began to settle in the West End. Soon the area became one of the most prestigious places in the city. Until now, a house in the West End is a ticket to the high society of London.

During the English Civil War, London sided with Parliament. Militia troops were raised and defensive fortifications erected to protect the city from the Royalists, who moved closer and closer to the capital - the Battle of Brentford took place just a few miles from London. However, a well-organized defense did not allow the royal troops to take the city, which played a decisive role in the war - the wealth stored in London helped Parliament win.

In London, as in all European cities of that time, there was no sewerage and health care system, in addition, the city was heavily overpopulated, and therefore epidemics regularly broke out there with many hundreds, and sometimes thousands of victims. But the worst happened in the middle of the 17th century, in 1665-1666. In England it is called the Great Plague. In London, about 60,000 people (a fifth of the city) became victims of the epidemic. Samuel Pepys, the city's chronicler, wrote the following on September 4, 1665: “More than 7,400 people died in a week, 6,000 of them from the plague. Day night, almost without interruption, the funeral ringing of church bells is heard from the street.

Immediately after the end of the epidemic, another catastrophe occurred - the Great Fire of London in 1666. If the Great Plague mowed down the population of London, then the fire caused serious material damage, destroying 13,200 houses (about 60% of the city) and 87 churches (including the old St. Paul's Cathedral ). Oddly enough, but only eight people died in the fire, but many were left without a home and lost all means of livelihood.

After the restoration, London finally turned into the financial capital of the world. In 1694, the Bank of England opened, allowing the country to further increase its influence on the world economy. In 1700, 80% of England's imports and 69% of its exports came from London, and the city's population exceeded 500,000.

In the 18th century, during the Enlightenment, the press and literature became widespread. Since then, Fleet Street has become the center of London's publishing life. In the same century, an increase in crime in the capital was noted, due to which punishments were toughened: even for a minor crime, the death penalty was now threatened.

In 1707, London acquired the status of the capital of Great Britain, a new state created by the union of England and Scotland. In the same 18th century, the new St. Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace, symbols of modern London, were built, as well as Westminster Bridge, which became only the second bridge in London over the Thames. By the end of the 18th century, the population of London reached a million people.

London in the 19th century
London of the century before last is a city of contrasts. On the one hand, it was the capital of the largest state in the world - the British Empire, the economic and political center of the world, and on the other - a city where millions of poor people lived in slums, with virtually no means of subsistence.

XIX century - the era of rapid industrialization and urbanization in Europe and North America. In this century, a huge number of new factories and factories were built in London, and the population increased by 6 times. In the XIX century London was the largest city in the world, by 1900 its population was about 6 million people. Entire industrial districts appeared in the capital, and the most famous of them is the East End, which has become the opposite of the fashionable West End. I must say, from the point of view of the English language, this is quite logical: the East End (English East End) is translated as "Eastern Territory", and the West End (English West End) - as "Western Territory", that is, even etymologically these two districts represent two edges, two sides of one city.

In the century before last, cardinal changes took place in the appearance of London. In 1836, the first railway was opened, connecting London Bridge and Greenwich, and in less than 20 years 6 stations were opened. In 1863, the world's first subway appeared in London. In addition, Big Ben, Albert Hall, the Trafalgar Square complex, Tower Bridge were built in the 19th century. For the first time in the history of London, there was sewage.

In the 19th century, the system of city self-government was reformed, since the old system, which had existed since the Middle Ages, clearly did not meet the requirements of an overgrown metropolis. In 1855, the Metropolitan Board of Works was created to oversee urban development and infrastructure. In 1888, this body was liquidated, and administrative functions were for the first time assigned to an elected body - the London District Council (Eng. London County Council).

In the middle of the century, London faced mass immigration for the first time. A particularly large influx of visitors came from Ireland. A large Jewish community also formed in the city.

London in the 20th - early 21st centuries
The First World War temporarily suspended the development of London. The city was hit by air raids for the first time. Between the two world wars, London continued to grow, but more in area than in population.

In the 1930s, many residents of the city suffered due to the Great Depression: the unemployment rate rose sharply, the standard of living fell. The inability of the authorities to do anything led to the emergence of many radical parties of both left and right directions. Most of them were based in the working East End. The Communists won several seats in the British Parliament, and the British Union of Fascists also enjoyed wide support. The struggle between left and right culminated in the so-called Battle of Cable Street, street fighting between political extremists on both flanks and the police.

In the same 30s, many Jews fled to London from Nazi Germany. During the Second World War, the capital of Great Britain was subjected to repeated air bombardments, the heaviest of which occurred in September 1940 and May 1941. Many residents were evacuated from the capital. Subway stations served as bomb shelters. In total, during the war in London, 30,000 civilians became its victims, 50,000 were injured, tens of thousands of houses were destroyed.

In the post-war period, London lost its status as the largest port in the UK, as the equipment of the docks was outdated and the port could not serve large cargo ships. London's water terminals were moved to the nearby towns of Felixstow and Tilbury, and the Docklands area was redeveloped in the 1980s to now house offices and apartment buildings.

In 1952, the Great Smog, an extremely harmful mixture of fog and industrial smoke, descended on London for five days. Soon, the concentration of combustion products in the air became so high that in the following weeks about 4,000 people died from smog in the city, and another 8,000 became victims of the disaster in the next few months. The incident forced the authorities to seriously address this problem, as a result of which a nationwide law "On Clean Air" (1956) was issued, as well as a similar city law (1954)

In the 1960s, thanks to popular musical groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, it became one of the world's centers of youth subculture (earning the nickname "Swinging London"). In 1966, the England team won the World Cup in the final at Wembley Stadium.

London became a target for terrorists in the 1970s, when the city was first attacked by the Irish Republican Army. These attacks were regularly repeated until the end of the 20th century, after which the Irish group was replaced by Al-Qaeda, which organized a series of explosions in London public transport on July 7, 2005.

From the middle of the century, despite the influx of immigrants from the Commonwealth countries (especially from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh), the city's population began to decline, decreasing from almost 9 to 7 million people in the 1980s, after which it began to slowly grow.

London welcomed the new millennium with the opening of several new buildings, such as the Millennium Dome and the London Eye, the Ferris wheel that has become a new symbol of the city.

At the beginning of the 21st century, London won the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games. The UK capital will become the first city to host the Olympics three times.

In 2004, a plan for the development of the city was adopted. According to him, by 2016 the population of London should reach 8.1 million people, the number of skyscrapers should increase. The authorities also intend to improve the public transport system.

Administrative division and city self-government
The city government of London has a rather complex structure. It has, as it were, two tiers - the first is city government, the second is local. City administration is carried out by the Great London Authority (GLA for short), local administrations are local administrations of municipal districts. The city administration is responsible for strategic planning, economic development of the city, police, fire service and transport, local - for local planning, schools, social services, etc.

In turn, the Greater London Authority consists of two parts. The first is the mayor of the city, representing the executive branch, the second is the London City Assembly, which limits the powers of the mayor and approves the city's annual budget. The Greater London Administration appeared recently, in 2000, instead of the Greater London Council, which was abolished in 1986 (thus, the city existed for 14 years without a central authority).

Administratively, London is divided into 33 districts, which include 32 municipal districts, designated by the special word borough and the City. Each district has its own administration and district council, which is elected every four years. There is no district administration in the City, but there is a traditional authority in the district - the Corporation of London, which has been preserved almost unchanged since the Middle Ages. In addition, the City has its own police force, independent of the City.

Economy
London is the most important economic and financial center of Great Britain and Europe, one of the world's financial centers. The city's gross regional product in 2004 was $365 billion (17% of UK GDP). The economic importance of the entire London agglomeration is even higher - the regional product in 2004 amounted to $642 billion.

The most important branch of the city's economy is finance, including banking services, insurance, asset management; The headquarters of the largest banks and financial companies, including such as HSBC, Reuters, Barclays, are located in London. One of the world's largest centers of currency and stock trading is the London Stock Exchange. For centuries, the city's business district has been the focus of urban financial life.

The second most important industry in the economy of London is information. The capital is home to the headquarters of the BBC, one of the largest media corporations in the world. The most popular newspapers are published in London, including The Times, published with almost 700,000 copies daily, The Sun, The Daily Mirror and others.

Many British and multinational companies are headquartered in London, including BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Unilever, Corus Group, SABMiller, Cadbury Schweppes and others. More than 100 of the top 500 largest European companies are headquartered in the British capital.

London remains one of the largest industrial centers in Britain. The industry of the city and its suburbs is represented by mechanical engineering (automotive industry, electronics, machine tool building, shipbuilding and ship repair, etc.), light, food, oil refining and petrochemical industries, printing, etc. are widely developed.

Tourism is one of the most important sources of income for London. In 2003, this industry provided permanent employment for 300,000 people. For the year, visitors leave in London 5 billion f. In terms of popularity among tourists, the city is second only to Paris. London hotels are numerous and varied, here you can find both budget and very expensive hotels.

Despite the fact that London was once one of the largest ports in Europe, now even in the UK it is only in third place. The annual cargo turnover is 50 million tons of cargo.

The economic heart of London is the City, and especially the famous Piccadilly Circus.

Transport
London's public transport system is one of the busiest in the world, and therefore it has to constantly increase and thereby complicate. The next round of increasing the city's transport network is timed to coincide with the preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The three main forms of public transport in London are buses, tubes and taxis.

Transport for London is responsible for London's urban transport. In particular, it operates the London underground, buses and trams and licenses city taxis and public water transport.

Buses are used for local transportation. There are 700 routes on which buses carry up to 6 million passengers on weekdays. The famous Routemaster model buses, which have become one of the symbols not only of London, but of the whole of Great Britain, were removed from linear operation in 2005 and now go only on sightseeing routes.

The London Underground is the oldest in the world. It has been in continuous operation since 1863 and carries 3 million passengers daily, which is about 1 billion people a year. The London Underground consists of 12 lines, most of which link the city center with its outskirts. Londoners often refer to the Underground as a "pipe" because of the very small diameter of the deep tunnels.

In addition to the "classic" subway, since 1987, the Docklands Light Railway system has been operating in London, which can be called a light subway. Unlike the "classic" London Underground, the Docklands Light Railway route is laid mainly not in tunnels, but on overpasses. Docklands Light Railway trains run automatically. There are several transfer stations between the London Underground and the Docklands Light Railway.

London used to have an extensive tram system, but this was closed in 1952. Since 2000, Croydon, a suburb of London, has been operating a modern Tramlink tram system. There are plans to build new tram lines closer to the city centre: West London Tram and Cross River Tram (scheduled to open in 2016).

In addition to trams, London also had a trolleybus service, which was discontinued in 1962. However, there are plans to restore the trolleybus service.

There is also public water transport in London. The city's waterway system is known as the London River Services. Some routes are aimed at tourists, while others are more commonly used by Londoners themselves as regular public transport, such as commuting to work. Although London River Services is licensed by Transport for London, it is operated by private firms and bus and tube passes are not valid on London's waterways (although they may offer discounts).

London's famous black taxis look exactly the same as they did seventy years ago, except for the advertising that now covers many of these cars. Now in London, newer models and more modern looking cars are also used as taxis. It is worth noting that, unlike most major cities, in London all taxis are controlled by the city administration, or rather the municipal service Transport for London.

Closer to the outskirts of the city, traffic on the streets is predominantly automobile. There are several high-speed routes in London, the inner ring road. A fee is charged for the entry of private cars into the city center (since 2005 - £8, approx. 400 rubles).

There are five airports in London: Heathrow, the world's busiest airport, another major airport, Gatwick, small Stansted and Luton, and London City, intended mainly for business charter flights.

Education
About 378,000 students study in London, 125,000 of them at the University of London. This university is the largest in the UK and includes 20 colleges and several institutes. Other major higher education institutions: London Metropolitan University, University of East London, University of Westminster, South Bank University, City University, Middlesex University, New London College.

Museums and libraries
The center of London's museums is the South Kensington area, which houses the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum (the world's largest collection of arts and crafts and design). Other notable museums are the British Museum, which has a collection of about 7.5 million pieces; the London National Gallery, one of the world's most respected art museums; the famous Wax Museum Madame Tussauds; Sherlock Holmes Museum. You can call the museum and the current royal residence - Buckingham Palace, part of the premises of which is open to visitors, usually one month a year (August-September). Also sightseeing tours are held in the Houses of Parliament, the Tower, London cathedrals. The National British Library is located in London.

Theaters

Several major commercial theaters specializing in musicals, comedies and dramas are located in the West End. There is even a special term West End theatre, which is used in England to refer to entertainment commercial theaters of the Broadway type. Of the classical theaters, the National Theater in the South Bank area, the new Globe Theater and the Theater at the Royal Court should be noted.

London's classical music theaters are widely known in the world: the famous Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the Royal Albert Hall, the Elizabeth II Theatre.

Famous streets and squares
- Piccadilly (street and square) - the economic center of the city. The walls of the houses on the square are covered with advertisements. In the middle (but not in the geometric center) of Piccadilly Circus is a fountain and the famous sculpture of Anteros, popularly called Eros.
- Trafalgar Square is dedicated to the defeat of the Spanish-French fleet in 1805. In the middle of the square is a monument in honor of Horatio Nelson, the admiral who commanded the English fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar. Trafalgar Square is home to the London National Gallery.
- Oxford Street is a shopping street. There are boutiques and shopping centers here.
- Harley Street - a street in Westminster, famous as a street of doctors - many doctors still practice on this Harley Street.
- Abbey Road is famous for the recording studio of the same name, where many legendary musicians made their recordings: The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Manfred Mann and others. The Beatles released an album in 1969 called Abbey Road.

Entertainment
Oxford Street is London's most famous shopping street, but it's not the city's only shopping street: Bond Street in Mayfair and Knightsbridge, home to the famous Harrod's shopping centre, are also popular with Londoners and tourists. Fashion stores can be found in the same Mayfair, on Carnaby Street in Soho and on King's Road in Chelsea.

In London, you can find many restaurants for every taste. The most expensive ones are in Westminster, the more democratic ones are in Soho. Restaurants specializing in the national cuisine of different nations are scattered throughout the city, the most famous of them are Chinese in London's Chinatown and Bangladeshi on Bricklein Street.

One of the most famous places in London is Soho - a small area with bars, restaurants, pubs and shops. Among other things, Soho is known for its macabre establishments, including brothels and nightclubs. Soho also has several gay clubs and pubs.

One of the most popular and visited by tourists from all over the world is the city of London. The capital of Great Britain attracts several million tourists every year who seek to see great historical buildings and places, monuments and sights, galleries with great expositions and purely London museums, cultural and religious sites, royal lands with magnificent palaces, luxurious parks, the famous red double-decker buses - double deckers and many other things known to the whole world.

History of London

The founding of the city in this area dates back to 43 AD, when the Romans led by Claudius invaded Britain. They founded the settlement of Londinium, which was very small in area. It is believed that there was already a large settlement on this site, but this data is not confirmed by anything.

The settlement is developing rapidly and already in the year 100 London becomes the capital of Britain. The Romans built walls around London to strengthen the city, which largely determined its boundaries. For several centuries, the rapid development of the city, then its decline, was observed, and by the 5th century the Romans left these places. The city gradually began to be settled by the Britons, but was almost abandoned.

In the Middle Ages, London was under the rule of the Saxons and was constantly attacked by the Vikings. During the reign of Edward the Confessor, London begins to be divided into the city itself - the City and the seat of the king, and later the parliament - Westminster, where Edward restored the abbey.

When the Normans won the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror was crowned on the site of the erected Westminster Abbey. It was at this time that the Tower and other defensive fortifications appeared in case of a popular uprising.

After the Tudor dynasty came to power in England, the country became an absolute monarchy. At the same time, the capital of England, London, began to grow richer and develop even faster: the first luxurious royal palaces and parks appeared.

During the Reformation, many areas of London were religious lands, and most of the population were monks. When Henry VIII declared the supremacy of the king over the church, the situation changed: life became more secular, and many territories belonging to churches were confiscated by the king.

London quickly became the largest European trading city: businesses opened, new people arrived. But it also had its downsides. In many large cities of that time there was no sewerage, and medicine did not allow to cope with the constantly emerging epidemics and diseases.

In London, epidemics constantly broke out, claiming the lives of thousands of people.

The most terrible occurred in 1665-1666 and was called the Great Plague: almost a fifth of the population fell victim to this terrible disease.

After the end of the epidemic, London suffered another catastrophe - the Great Fire of London, in which there were practically no casualties, but serious material damage was caused.

After the restoration of the city, London becomes the financial capital of the world. At this time, new technologies are being developed, banks are opening, literature is developing, the press is appearing, cultural facilities are being built - the city is developing in all directions.

In the XIX century, London acquires the first railway, the world's first underground, Tower Bridge and Big Ben. At the same time, a sewer appeared in the capital, which had to be built after the Great Stench that happened in 1858.

The development of London was interrupted during the First World War, when it was attacked from the air. Between the world wars, London developed and grew in area. During the Great Depression, many people were left without work, the standard of living in the city worsened.

During World War II, London was repeatedly bombed, residents were evacuated, and underground stations were used as bomb shelters.

In 1952, the Great Smog descended on London, the victims of which were several thousand people. Then the authorities became concerned about the environmental situation in the city and adopted the necessary laws.

In the 60s of the XX century, the city became the center of the youth subculture Swinging London. The main icons of this style were the musical groups TheBeatles and Rolling Stones, James Bond, and optimism, hedonism and the rejection of old values ​​are considered the main principles of the subculture.

After Swinging London, hippie culture became popular, spreading from the United States around the world.

At the end of the 20th century, London, like other major cities in the world, becomes a target for terrorists. In the 70s, the attacks of the Irish Republican Army were carried out, after which they were replaced by Islamic fundamentalists.

In 2012, London hosted the Olympic Games and became the first city to receive this honor three times in its history.

London Attractions

London has always attracted people with its architectural structures, historical and cultural monuments, cultural and sporting events. So, from sporting events, matches of London football teams that are part of the elite of world football, cricket and rugby matches, a tennis tournament in the suburbs of the capital Wimbledon, boat regattas, the London Marathon annually attract tourists and local residents.

Among the cultural festivals stand out film festival, book fair, music festivals and concerts. Traditional ceremonies are very popular: the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, the Ceremony of Keys in the Tower, fireworks in honor of special events in the royal family.

Many of London's landmarks have become household names, the squares are recognizable, and some of the historic and royal buildings have become some of the most popular attractions in the world.

Some objects are included in the UNESCO heritage list. Among them: the Palace of Westminster, the Tower, Westminster Abbey, an ensemble of buildings in Greenwich, the royal gardens of Kew, the Church of St. Margaret.

One of the sights of London, which is familiar to many even by outlines alone, is the famous Big Ben tower, built in combination with the Parliament building in the center of the capital.

Along with it, everyone tends to visit the infamous gloomy Tower, which has become the place of imprisonment and execution of many prominent political and historical figures in England. Next to the Tower is the majestic Neo-Gothic Tower Bridge over the Thames, next to which is the museum ship Belfast.

In the center of London, Trafalgar Square is especially popular with its famous Nelson's Column, which is used for mass celebrations and social events, and during the Christmas holidays it becomes the place of the country's main Christmas tree.

Of the interesting museums in the capital of England, one can single out the London National Gallery, the British Museum, the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Tate Gallery, the collection of decorative art and the design collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, Pollock Toy Museum, Sherlock Holmes Museum at a well-known address.

The famous Shakespeare's Globe Theater still attracts tourists, including interesting performances and educational programs held there.

In addition to this theater, Broadway-type theaters, the Theater at the Royal Court, the Elizabeth II Theater, the Royal Opera House, located in Covent Garden, Albert Hall, are popular.

London's parks are famous for their special flair, providing much-needed relaxation for busy Londoners. The most interesting parks in the capital of Great Britain: Green Park, Hyde Park, Lee Valley, Kensington Gardens, St. James Park, Greenwich Park, Regent's Park, Richmond Park, Kew Royal Gardens, Bushy Park.

Almost every park has rare species of plants or animals, interesting fountains and monuments. Many parks provide entertainment for children and numerous cafes for outdoor recreation.

Of the religious buildings of interest are Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Southwark Cathedral, the Central Mosque and other objects.

The royal residence in London is the chic Buckingham Palace, which is open to the public for two months a year when the Queen is away.

In honor of the new millennium, a huge Ferris wheel 135 meters high, called the London Eye, was built on the banks of the Thames. From the attraction you can see the city from a bird's eye view. This Ferris wheel attracts large crowds of tourists, but is not very popular with the stiff English.

In London, everyone can find entertainment and interesting activities for themselves. If time permits, you can visit all the iconic places associated with the history of England and in many ways determined its fate.