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More than 300 museums
and galleries can be found in this cultural city which contain
everything from ancient ruins to art spanning over the last five
centuries and postmodern collections. Art and culture is spread all
over this fabulous metropolis and due to it's unique history many
small aspects of traditional European life still spring up
everywhere.
London is situated
in southeastern England along the Thames River. With a population of
about 7 million, this vast metropolis is by far the largest city in
Europe, a distinction it has maintained since the 17th century. In
the 19th century it was the largest and most influential city in the
world, the center of a large and prosperous overseas empire.
Although it no longer ranks among the world's most populous cities,
London is still one of the world's major financial and cultural
capitals.
By European
standards, London is physically spread out and dispersed, without a
predominant focal point. It therefore defies easy general
description, as the city's character is found in its diverse and
distinct sections. Many of these sections began as separate
villages, and today they maintain some of their individual
identities. London's image is partly defined by its past, as its
major buildings and institutions represent 2000 years of community
history. Its image is also the product of a new multiethnic mix of
people and the creative impulse of the new popular culture of “Cool
Britannia,” a phrase Britain's promoters conceived in the mid-1990s
to portray Britain as modern and trendy.
London's climate is
generally mild and damp, although it can be erratic. This region is
one of the driest parts of Britain, and the average annual rainfall
is only 750 mm (30 in). However, the weather is generally cloudy,
and some rain is liable to fall on half the days of the year. With a
mean temperature in July of about 18° C (about 64° F), London has
warmer summers than most of the island, although heat waves are
infrequent and seldom last long. Temperatures rarely go above 26° C
(78° F). Winters are relatively frosty, however, and the mean
temperature in January is 4° C (40° F). Fog frequently develops in
winter. In the past, foggy days were aggravated by smoke, resulting
in London's traditional "pea-soupers." However, since the use of
coal has significantly declined, these have largely disappeared.
London and Its Metropolitan Area
London's
metropolitan area extends for more than 30 miles at its widest
point, covering some 1610 sq km (620 sq mi). This vast urban
territory is divided into 33 political units—32 boroughs and the
City of London. At the core of this immense urban area is Central
London. Most of Central London is located north of the Thames, on a
gentle slope that rises to the north. It contains about 12 of the 33
political units, including the City of London, the City of
Westminster, and districts in the West End. The City of London is
the traditional heart of the city and stands as its own political
unit. The City of Westminster is the seat of the national
government. Much of the outer portion of this huge conglomeration of
people and activities is made up of low-rise residential
development.
The City of London
The historical
center of London is now a relatively small area still known as the
City, which covers only about 2.6 sq km (about 1 sq mi). The City is
capitalized, to distinguish it from the larger metropolis. This is
where London began as a Roman colonial town around AD 50, at the
point where the Romans built the first bridge in London. Today this
area is one of the world's leading financial centers. Most of the
financial activities are crowded along Thread needle Street, near
the intersection known as the Bank, which includes the huge Bank of
England complex, the Royal Exchange, and the Stock Exchange. The
permanent residential population of the City is now less than 6000,
but about 350,000 commute here daily to work. The only large
residential portion of the City is the Barbican Centre, a concrete
complex of towers, parking garages, and pedestrian walkways located
on the northern edge of the City. The Barbican was built to replace
older buildings destroyed in World War II (1939-1945), when the
Germans heavily bombed London.
Some of the City's
older elegance and significance remains despite the architectural
havoc caused by the Blitz and postwar developers. The most prominent
landmark is Saint Paul's Cathedral, designed by English architect
Christopher Wren to replace the original church, which was destroyed
during the Great Fire of London in 1666. At the City's eastern
boundary is the Tower of London, where the Crown imprisoned many
important figures. It was begun in the 11th century by the Norman
invader, William the Conqueror, to awe a city he had not completely
conquered. Successive monarchs added to the original, central White
Tower, and built walls to enclose the 7-hectare (18-acre) site. Its
function now is primarily ceremonial, although it still guards the
Crown Jewels.
Some of the City's
traditional functions have disappeared. The newspaper industry was
concentrated in the Fleet Street area for centuries, but during the
1980s the Times and other papers moved to highly automated quarters
at the Docklands in the East End. The old wholesale fish market,
Billingsgate, located for centuries on the river between the Tower
and London Bridge, also moved to the Docklands.
The City of Westminster
The City of
Westminster, about two miles upstream from the City of London,
emerged as England's political and religious center of power after
the 11th century. At the heart of Westminster is Westminster Abbey,
begun by Edward the Confessor in the 11th century and rebuilt in the
13th century. It has always been closely associated with the
monarchy and is used for such state occasions as coronations and
royal funerals. It is also a giant mausoleum, and more than 3000
notable people are buried there. Statues and monuments line the
magnificent nave. Virtually across the street are the Houses of
Parliament, officially called the New Palace of Westminster. Farther
west is the monarch's permanent residence in London, Buckingham
Palace.
To the north,
Trafalgar Square links the political and religious section of
Westminster to the rest of west London. This square is a modest
version of the great ceremonial squares of Europe, and was built in
dedication to British naval commander Viscount Horatio Nelson, whose
monument is at the square's center. It has long been a popular site
for large-scale political demonstrations. Some significant
buildings, such as the National Gallery, are on the square. On the
northeast corner is Saint Martin-in-the-Fields, the classical-style
church designed by James Gibbs in the 1720s.
The West End
To the west and
north of Trafalgar Square is the West End, which is usually regarded
as the center of town because it is London's shopping and
entertainment hub. The busiest shopping area is Oxford Street, where
such large department stores as Selfridges, John Lewis, and Marks
and Spencer are located. Other well-known shopping areas include
Knightsbridge, the location of Harrods department store; and
Piccadilly, where Fortnum and Mason specializes in fine food. The
main entertainment attractions are scattered throughout the Soho and
Covent Garden sections, northeast of Piccadilly. Soho and Covent
Garden were created as residential areas in the 17th century, but
now are home to shops, theaters, and street entertainers. The Royal
Opera House and most of London's 40 or so major theaters are here,
as are the large movie houses, and hundreds of restaurants, cafés,
and bars.
Located just west of
Soho and Covent Garden in the West End is a more residential area.
Much of the urban design here is based on the residential square, an
imitation of European precedents, with uniform houses built around
an open space. The houses on these squares were often built for the
aristocracy and the upper middle class. The relatively dense
development of this area is broken up by a series of Royal Parks,
areas once owned by the Crown, including Hyde Park, Kensington
Gardens, and Regent's Park.
In the northern part
of the West End is Bloomsbury, the city's traditional intellectual
center, with its concentration of bookshops and homes of writers and
academics. In the early 20th century a number of famous writers,
critics, and artists who lived here became known as the Bloomsbury
Group. Here, too, is the British Museum, one of London's chief
tourist attractions. Nearby is the giant complex of the University
of London, whose various colleges and departments have taken over
much of Bloomsbury.
The East End and Docklands
The East End, beyond
the City of London and the Tower, has long been the home of London's
docks and immigrants. It has frequently been characterized by slums,
poverty, and crime. This is the area where the notorious criminal
Jack the Ripper prowled. Some portions, such as Bethnal Green, were
slums during the Victorian period. Many poorer immigrants and
working-class Londoners still reside in the East End, but its
weekend street markets are very popular, especially Petticoat Lane,
which runs along the length of Middlesex Street. Although Middlesex
Street is no longer the center of the clothing trade, its
merchandise is still geared toward apparel. Much of the old dockyard
area has been abandoned and is being redeveloped as the Docklands,
an ambitious project designed to lure London's financial activities
away from the congested City. The heart of the Docklands is the Isle
of Dogs, a peninsula where the Royal Kennels were once situated.
North London
North London was
made up of satellite villages until the 19th century when the
underground railroad (known locally as the Tube) opened this area up
to development. Camden Town, on Regent's Canal, has a popular
weekend market that sells inexpensive clothing and jewelry. Farther
north are elegant 18th-century villages, such as Hampstead, a center
for writers; and Highgate, renowned for London's best-known
cemetery, which includes the grave and a large bust of Karl Marx. A
central fixture of north London is the 324-hectare (800-acre)
Hampstead Heath, a large public park.
South London
The area south of
the Thames has long been regarded with disdain by the rest of the
city. For centuries Southwark, originally the area around the
southern end of London Bridge, was the disreputable entertainment
center of London, with brothels, bars, and theaters outside of the
City's jurisdiction. The sacred and the profane lived in close
proximity here. Not far from the infamous Bankside, where brutal
sports like cockfighting and bearbaiting took place, was the
beautiful Southwark Cathedral, which dates from the 13th century.
Bankside was also the location of Elizabethan theaters, which were
restricted in the City because they were considered places of vice.
One of these, the Globe Theatre, where William Shakespeare put on
his greatest plays, was recently reconstructed.
Farther along the
river to the west is the South Bank Centre cultural complex, begun
as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951. The Festival of Britain
was a vehicle for lifting the spirits of Londoners after the trials
of World War II. The most important building in the center is the
Royal Festival Hall, a concert hall that was built for the festival.
The Royal National Theatre and the National Film Theatre are also
part of the South Bank Centre.
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