London Tourist Guide 🇬🇧 Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey

Famous around the world for keeping impeccable time, the Big Ben clock tower became fully operational in 1859. The name Big Ben actually refers to the bell housed within the tower. The bell itself weighs almost 14 tons and takes its name from the man who first ordered the bell, Sir Benjamin Hall. Soaring 96 metres high, the clock tower also houses a large, four-faced clock designed by Augustus Pugin. The British Parliament and most of the legislative processes in Britain take place at the stunning Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster. The building is home to both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Situated on the northern banks of the Thames, it is a most unmistakable sight. The Victoria Tower, Central Tower and Clock Tower rise high above the other perpendicular Gothic-style rectilinear towers and pointed arches. The magnificent Gothic Revival masterpiece we see today was built between 1840 and 1888, the work of Charles Barry. The Palace is one of the biggest Parliament Houses in the world. It contains 1,200 rooms, 100 staircases, over 3 kilometres of corridors. Most of it dates back to 1834, following a fire that burned down the earlier building. The Palace of Westminster is located on the north bank of the River Thames, though due to a bend in that section of the river, it is on the west side of the Thames. Along the whole length of the building, at ground level parallel to the river, is a roadway leading into several courtyards, with a further line of courts on the west side. In its initial role as a royal residence during the Middle Ages, the positioning of the Palace of Westminster on the north bank of the Thames was considered to be of strategic importance. Now the Houses of Parliament are not only the epicentre of political life in the United Kingdom, but one of the most popular tourist attractions as well. Located next to the Houses of Parliament in the heart of London, Westminster Abbey is a must-see for any visitor to London. With its oldest parts dating to the year 1050, the Abbey contains some of the most glorious medieval architecture in London. Westminster Abbey is steeped in more than a thousand years of history. Benedictine monks first came to this site in the middle of the 10th century, establishing a tradition of daily worship that continues to this day. The Abbey has been the coronation church since 1066, as well as the final resting place of 17 monarchs. According to tradition, a shrine was first founded here in 616 on a site then known as Thorny Island. It was said to have been miraculously consecrated after a fisherman on the River Thames saw a vision of St. Peter. Westminster Abbey has always enjoyed close links with the monarchy, not least in its unbroken role as a coronation church. Kings and queens have also been significant benefactors of the Abbey. Westminster Abbey, or, to use its formal name, the Collegiate Church of St. Peter, Westminster, is a Royal Peculiar. This means that it is a free chapel of the Sovereign, exempt from any ecclesiastical jurisdiction other than that of the Sovereign. Royal Peculiars originated in Anglo-Saxon times and developed as a result of the unique relationship between the Norman and Planagenic kings and the English church. The interior is a veritable museum of English history. A monument to Isaac Newton stands against the choir screen to the north of the entrance to the choir. The monument in white and grey marble bears a Latin inscription and supports a sarcophagus with large scroll feet and a relief panel. The Abbey has the highest Gothic vault in England, which was made to seem even higher by making the aisles narrow. The Englishness is also apparent in the elaborate mouldings of the main arches, the lavish use of polished purbeck marble for the columns, and the overall sculptural decoration. The Sanctuary is the heart of the Abbey, where the high altar stands. The altar and reredos above it were designed by Sir Scott, while the Last Supper mosaic is the work of Antonio Salviati. It is in the present choir in Victorian Gothic style that 22 boys and 12 lay vicars sing the daily services. The chapel screens and tombs add to the Abbey's display of colour. The glory of the Lady Chapel is its delicately carved fan-vaulted roof with hanging pendants constructed on half-concealed transverse arches. This early English Gothic Abbey is one of the greatest examples of ecclesiastical architecture on earth. But it's far more than that. It is the shrine of a nation, and the place in which most of its rulers were crowned, and where many lie buried.