Next stop of this audioguide (audioguides), the Tower of London was built by William the Conqueror as a fortification towards the end of the 11th century and it has evolved ever since.
One of the most well-known sections is "Poet’s Corner": with the audioguide (audioguides) you can find the tombs of the literary greats such as Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer, Samuel Johnson, and Rudyard Kipling. However, in 1996 the English Prime Minister decided to return the fragment that resided in Westminster Abbey to its place of origin, the Edinburgh Castle.Ī highlight of the interior are the tombs and mausoleums of British kings and queens, as well as those of notable Britons such as Lady Chapel, Isaac Newton, and Charles Darwin. In 1950, it was taken back again by Scottish nationalists.Ĭonflict over the stone ended when it was split in two so that both sides could retain a piece. This stone was stolen from the Scottish by the English in the 13th century. The Stone of Scone once lay just below the chair, which was a precious stone the Scottish used in their own coronations. Inside the main hall of the Abbey is King Edward's Chair, where all new monarchs must sit during their coronation. The funeral of Princess Diana is perhaps the most well-known. The Abbey has been the scene of numerous coronations and burials for members of the English monarchy. At the end of this period, the Benedictine monks dissolved the Order, and the monastery passed into the hands of the English Crown. Later, it was rebuilt in a Gothic style in the 12th and again in the 16th century. The origins of Westminster Abby date back to 1065 when the construction was a humble Benedictine monastery. The palace is flanked by Big Ben and the Victoria Tower, an imposing spire that houses the originals of all Parliamentary legislature since 1497.
Within them, with the audioguide (audioguides) we can see a collection of artworks and artifacts that tell of the Parliament’s history, including portraits, statues, furniture, and adornments from the era. Since then, it has been used by the two Houses of Parliament and the Court of Justice.Īnother terrible fire, this time caused by a stove in the House of Lords, almost completely destroyed the palace in 1834.Īfter the catastrophe, the palace was rebuilt from the ground up, and the few structures that remained were conserved.ĭuring World War II, the Germans succeeded in bombing the House of Commons.Īt present, the palace consists of about 1,200 rooms. Saint Edward the Confessor ordered the construction of a palace on the borders of the River Thames to use as his residence at the end of the 11th centuryĪ fire destroyed part of the building in 1529 which prompted the residing king, Henry VIII, to move to another palace. Until the beginning of the 19th century, the capital resided within the limits of the medieval city which had a perimeter of one square mile. This led to the construction of the new London, much of which can be seen today.Ī large part of modern London is from the Victorian era. A year later, a gigantic fire destroyed four-fifths of the city.
The expansion of maritime trade, which was established by the Tudors and continued by the Stuarts, meant that by the mid-17th century, London’s population had surpassed 500,000.Ī devastating plague epidemic killed 70,000 people in 1665.
A subsequent trade boom with Europe consolidated the city’s claim as the capital of the kingdom.ĭuring the 15th century, London developed a sizable textile industry, and its port became its primary distribution center. In the 13th century, nearby Westminster was declared the center of government. By the 3rd century, Londinium, as it was then known, was an important port city with some 50,000 inhabitants. London was founded under the rule of the Roman Empire between the 1st and 5th century AD. You will be able to discover the city with this audioguide (audioguides). Located on the banks of the River Thames, London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom.
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