The places to visit.

London is the capital of England. It is its political, business and cultural centre. The heart of London is the City. It is the oldest part of London. Many people work in the City but very few live here. There are many banks and offices here. You can visit some interesting places in the City or near it.

One of them is the Tower of London. In different times of the history of London the Tower was a fortress, a palace, a prison and even the King's Zoo. A lot of people lost their heads here.

Now it is the museum. You can see a lot of interesting things in the halls of the White Tower. The Crown Jewels are kept at it. Its square walls are white and very tall.

William the Conqueror built it in the 11-th century. There are always black ravens in the Tower of London. They appeared there when the Tower was the King's prison - those who were its prisoners never got freedom: they were executed or died themselves, and their bodies were thrown down the walls of the Tower. They became food for ravens. Still then ravens have lived there.

One of the old English legends says that London can be the capital of the country, rich and great until 12 black ravens live in the Tower. Each has its name and some special people, the keepers of ravens, carefully look after them. If one of the birds dies, another younger raven takes its place. Londoners believe this legend and every time they come to the Tower they count the ravens and never forget to bring food for them. The keepers cut the birds' wings as they are afraid that they may fly away.

One of the greatest English churches, St. Paul's Cathedral, is not far from the Tower of London. Old St. Paul's Cathedral was made of wood and burnt in the Great Fire of London. The famous architect Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt it in the 17-th century. He started in 1675. It took him 35 years. It is a very beautiful building with many tall columns and towers. In ne of its towers there is one of the largest bells in the world.

The centre of London is Trafalgar Square. Some people say that it is the most beautiful place in London. Tastes differ! In the middle of the square stands a tall column. It is a monument to Admiral Nelson. Four bronze lions look at the square from the monument. There are 2 splendid fountains in the square. They are in front of the National Gallery which is one of the best picture galleries in the world.

The political centre of London is Westminster. It is the part of London where there are a lot of offices. If you go down Whitehall from Trafalgar Square on the right you will see a small street - Downing Street. Here at number 10 the British Prime Minister lives. Whitehall is a wide street leading to Parliament Square. This square is very large.

On the left there is a long grey building with towers which are the Houses of Parliament. This building is really Westminster Palace. The large clock in one of the towers is Big Ben - the clock and the bell of the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. You can hear the sound of Big Ben every hour in London. The clock and the bell got their names after Sir Benjamin Hall who was in charge of building it. He was a tall man, whose nickname was Big Ben. So people know the clock as Big Ben.

The Thames is behind the Houses of Parliament and the bridge across it is Westminster Bridge.

On the other side of Parliament Square is Westminster Abbey. It is very beautiful and very famous. It is also very old. It is more than 900 years old. It is built in gothic style. There are a lot of monuments and statues there. Many English kings and queens are buried here. Westminster Abbey is famous for the Poet's Corner where great English poets and writers are also buried.

The Queen of England lives in Buckingham Palace. It is a wonderful large building with a golden monument in front of it. It is the Queen Victoria Memorial.

All these interesting places are quite near one another. It takes only 20 minutes to get from Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square.

Of course, there are so many other places of interest to see and visit in London.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29