The Palace of Westminster has 1200 rooms, 100 stairs and 5 kilometers of corridors. Anyone can observe the work of the House of Commons and the House of Lords - the premises of Parliament are open all week in different time day. Get in line at St. Stephen's Gate and after passing through several security checkpoints, you can arrive at the Visitors' Gallery.
In August and September, when Parliament is closed, you can take a guided tour of the entire building.
Of the palace towers, the most famous is the Elizabeth Tower, most often called Big Ben, although this is actually the name of the 13-ton bell that rings in the chime system. Big Ben is known all over the world, and the tower is a universally recognized symbol of London. Perhaps the best view of the Parliament building is from the southern side, from the river, and at night the illuminated towers and spiers look extremely romantic.
History
In the 11th century, Edward the Confessor built the first Palace of Westminster on the banks of the Thames. All the monarchs lived here until Henry VIII, who had to move from Westminster after the fire. Since then, the parliament has been located here. In 1834 old palace almost completely burned down again, leaving only the Palace Hall and the Jewel Tower. After the fire, it was decided to rebuild the complex, and as a result, the building acquired its present appearance with the famous Gothic style spiers.
The London Parliament Building is one of the most beautiful buildings in the UK. Palace of Westminster is huge: it stretches along the banks of the Thames, and total area its corridors exceed 5 km.
But it is much more than a beautiful building in the neo-Gothic style, it is one of the symbols of the power of Great Britain, it is here that the chambers of government of Britain are located, here the fate of the country is decided.
Palace history
Westminster Palace has existed for almost a thousand years (they began to build it in the XI century), although it was rebuilt many times and significantly expanded since that distant time.
The first palace was built here for Knud the Great, King of England, Denmark and Norway. Half a century later, the building underwent reconstruction, it was then that the famous Westminster Hall was built, which has survived to this day.
Westminster Hall
This is the most elegant hall and the heart of the palace. A couple of centuries later, a new chamber was added to the hall, where in 1265 a meeting of the first parliament of England was held, here it sits to this day. At first, members of the royal family also lived in Westminster Palace, and in the 16th century they moved to Whitehall, and the building completely passed into the possession of Parliament.
Everything went well, the palace grew, became upset and gained its grandeur ... until a fire broke out in 1834. Then the building was badly damaged, but, fortunately, the oldest part of it - Westminster Hall - was not touched by the fire. After that, the building underwent a global reconstruction, the restoration work was carried out by the architect Charles Barry, thanks to him, now millions of tourists and local residents admire this masterpiece of architecture.
Interesting facts about Palace of Westminster
Fact number 1... The Palace of Westminster has nearly 5 kilometers of corridors, 1,100 rooms and 100 stairs.
Fact number 2... In fact, Big Ben is not the name of a tower or even a clock, but a huge bell inside.
The bell was named after the curator construction works Benjamin Hall. According to another version, he is named after the boxer Benjamin Count.
Fact number 3... The Tower of Elizabeth (in which, in fact, Big Ben is located) had several names: the clock tower of Westminster Palace, sometimes it was called the Tower of St. Stefan, and in 2012 it was renamed in honor of the 60th anniversary of the reign of Elizabeth II.
Fact number 4... No animals are allowed into the Parliament building, with the exception of guide dogs. So there are a lot of mice here. On special occasions, horses and police dogs can be admitted here.
Fact number 5... Westminster Hall was part of an ancient building that burned down in 1834, where the royal family once lived.
Fact number 6... The Palace of Westminster has its own restaurants, a library, a gym, a shooting gallery, souvenir shops and even a hair salon.
Fact number 7... There are many echoes of the past in the building: for example, in some rooms there are still hooks for hanging swords, and you can also see floor markings on which swords were placed.
Fact number 8... The Royal Gallery is one of the largest rooms in the palace.
The official opening of parliament takes place here, as well as receptions of dignitaries, important dinners and ceremonies. And once there was a courtroom here.
Fact number 9... In the courtroom of the House of Lords, all furniture is predominantly red, while in the House of Commons it is green.
There is also furniture from the Commonwealth countries. By the way, the Commonwealth countries adhere to the same tradition: in Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand, the upper chamber is decorated in red, the lower one - in green.
Fact number 10... The area of \u200b\u200bthe Palace of Westminster is 112 476 square meters.
Fact no. 11... The Elizabeth Tower is one of the most visited attractions in London.
Fact no. 12... The tallest tower of Westminster Palace is Victoria Tower.
Its height is 98.5 meters. If the monarch is within the walls of the palace, then this can be recognized precisely by this tower: the official flag of the king flutters on its flagpole. On other days, the UK flag is raised.
Fact number 13... Palace of Westminster is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (along with Westminster Abbey and St Margaret's Church).
Fact number 14... The construction of Westminster Palace in the 19th century took 30 years with periodic delays in funding and cost overruns. In addition, during this period, two leading architects managed to die. Interior decoration work continued into the 20th century.
Fact number 15... During World War II, 14 bombs hit the Palace of Westminster.
Fact number 16.Within the walls of the palace, obscene language that can offend the dignity of parliament is officially prohibited. Members of parliament also cannot insult or accuse their colleagues of anything.
Fact number 17... The only place where the Queen of Great Britain is not allowed is the House of Commons. This tradition dates back to 1642, when Charles I tried to arrest five members of the chamber for anti-Royalist views.
Fact no. 18... Since the 17th century, smoking and alcohol are prohibited within the walls of the palace.
Palace of Westminster, or House of Parliament, is one of the most famous buildings in the world is undoubtedly the symbol and decoration of London. It houses the stronghold of English democracy, the British Parliament: the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
This building arose in the years 1840-1860 on the site of the old palace burnt down in 1834, which by that time was a combination of the most diverse buildings. However, during the fire, they managed to save, in addition to the badly damaged crypt under the chapel of St. Stephen's, the most architecturally valuable part of the old palace - Westminster Hall... Fate turned out to be merciful to him and again: the hall survived during the devastating bombing of the German aircraft in May 1941, when the adjacent hall of the House of Commons was destroyed.
For modern London, Westminster Hall is the best and most expressive monument of medieval secular architecture. Started in 1097, it was rebuilt at the end of the 14th century. Henry Yewel, a talented London bricklayer, laid out the walls. The famous timber floors were built with the help of the royal carpenter Hugh Erland.
Westminster Hall covers an area of \u200b\u200b1,800 square meters. Its height is 28 meters. This is one of the grandest medieval halls known in architecture Western Europe, the wooden roof of which, moreover, is not supported by any support posts. The 21-meter-wide span of the hall is covered with carved oak open rafters supported by a complex system of wooden brackets that are strongly extended forward. The shape of these floors is difficult to describe.
In 1965 England solemnly celebrated the 750th anniversary of Magna Carta, commonly referred to in Latin as Magna Carta, and the 700th anniversary of the English Parliament. However, despite its ancient origins and widely known outside the country, the House of Commons did not have its own residence for a long time. Had to hold meetings in ancient Westminster Hall or divide the territory of the Chapter Hall Westminster Abbey with its monk owners. Only in 1547 did the parliament receive a permanent seat in the chapel of St. Stephen's of the old Palace of Westminster. To adapt the chapel of the XIII-XIV centuries to the procedure of parliamentary sessions, it had to be completely built up with benches and galleries, which distorted the architectural appearance of the hall. In addition, the entrance to the chapel lay through Westminster Hall, where the Supreme Court of England sat. And yet, despite these inconveniences, the House of Commons met in the chapel of St. Stephen until the fire of 1834, which again left her without a permanent meeting place.
By the summer of 1835, a special commission outlined its recommendation - to build a new palace on the old site. According to legend, the choice of location was also largely determined by the consideration that, being on the banks of the Thames, the parliament building, in the event of popular unrest, could not be surrounded by a revolutionary crowd. It was recommended to build the palace in the Gothic or Elizabethan style.
The Parliament Building is the most significant creation of the architect Barry. And although it caused the most controversial judgments and assessments, this did not prevent it from immediately becoming one of the city's attractions. Attention is drawn to the correctly found proportionality of the main volumes of such a significant structure. If you look at it from a distance, the almost classical severity and wide sweep of its facades invariably makes a great impression, and at the same time - the picturesqueness of its outlines as a whole. The mighty square in plan, Victoria Tower and the huge clock tower, asymmetrically located in the northern and southern parts of the palace, give it a unique originality. Together with a small turret with a spire, placed above the central hall, they not only decorate it, but also with their height balance the enormous length of the facades.
The Victoria Tower, which rises 104 meters in height, forms the royal entrance to Parliament. During the session, the British national flag is raised on it. The clock tower is 98 meters high. It is better known as St. Stephen's Tower. A clock mechanism is installed on it, which is distinguished by great precision. We can say that this is the “main clock” of the state. The huge Big Ben bell, specially cast for the tower, weighing 13.5 tons, beats the clock. The Battle of Big Ben is constantly broadcast by British radio stations. The watch got its name after Benjamin Hall, one of the construction managers. During the parliamentary session, at nightfall, a searchlight is lit on the tower.
The British Empire erected a building for its parliament of splendor and size, rare even for the tastes of that time. Reference books give figures: 3.2 hectares of area, 3 kilometers of corridors, 1,100 rooms, 100 stairs ... Of course, dry numbers do not reveal artistic merits or demerits Palace of Westminster, but to some extent they testify to the complex layout of the building, which reflected the peculiarities of the parliamentary structure, and the traditions that have long accompanied the meetings, and the daily business life of the British Parliament.
Of greatest interest is the interior of the House of Lords. The decorative techniques found in the interior decoration of the entire palace reach their climax here. The ceiling is completely covered with the image of heraldic birds, animals, flowers, etc. The walls are faced with carved wooden panels, above which there are six frescoes. Eighteen bronze statues of barons who won Magna Carta from King John stand in the niches between the windows, gazing at the inlaid canopy of the royal throne, at the rows of benches covered in bright red leather, at the famous sofa of the Lord Chancellor. This sofa reminds of a long tradition: the Lord Chancellor used to sit in Parliament on a sack of wool, symbolizing the foundations of British trade and welfare. The original sack of wool has now become a museum piece, but the tradition has remained: the President of the House of Lords, dressed in a black and gold robe, in a lush white wig, opens the sessions of the House sitting on a soft sofa.
In 1605, Guy Fawkes, who led the Gunpowder Plot, tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Since then, on November 5 each year, guards, dressed in ancient costumes, with lanterns and halberds, have searched the basements and back alleys of the palace, although it is well known in advance that they will not find any barrels of gunpowder in these rooms. Moreover, searches are going on in a new palace building, built two and a half centuries after the "gunpowder plot".
In 1987, the palace and the nearby church of Saint Margaret were honored to be inscribed on the List world heritage.
If a meeting of the House of Commons ends late at night, even now, under the arches of the palace, one can hear the exclamation: "Who is going home?" In the old days, the dark London streets were far from safe, and parliamentarians preferred to return home in large groups. Today, the building of Westminster Palace and the surrounding streets are flooded with bright electric light, and comfortable cars await members of parliament at the entrances. However, "Who is going home?" still sounds like centuries ago. And such traditions are observed in Westminster today, a great many. The most important of these is the annual, lavish and elaborate inauguration ceremony of the parliamentary session with the participation of the Queen, all members of the government and members of both houses.
View from the Thames to Westminster Hall
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Royal residence and symbol of parliamentarism, a Gothic building erected in the 19th century, an architectural masterpiece and a labyrinth of stairs and passages, a collection of art treasures and the State Archives. All this is the Palace of Westminster, a real tangle of contradictions, surprisingly embodying in stone the imperial spirit, combined with the desire for freedom. In terms of recognition, it is quite comparable to egyptian pyramids or the Moscow Kremlin. And I must admit - the British are proud of their House of Parliament by right.
A bit of history
There is a suspicion that on the site of the present Palace of Westminster there was once a temple of Apollo, erected by the founders of Laundanum - Roman legionnaires on the swampy island of Thorny at the confluence of the River Tyburn with the Thames. The ruler of Denmark, England and Norway, Knud the Great, was the first to establish his residence here around 1016, then it went to the Saxon and Norman kings. Their vassals first met here for a council in 1265.
At the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII, the building was almost completely burned down, the king moved to Whitehall, and the deputies remained in the ashes. Another fire happened in 1834, after which the architect Charles Barry erected the current magnificent palace in the neo-gothic style, known throughout the world.
What to see
A huge building of 1200 rooms, connected by 3 km of corridors and hundreds of stairs, stretches along the Thames and seems to float above the water. Pointed windows tall towers and turrets, stained-glass windows and statues - all the signs of neo-Gothic are present. If you look from the side of the river, then on the right rises the Elizabeth Tower, known to everyone as Big Ben. Her clock has been striking the clock since 1859.
On the left, the façade is completed by the Victoria Tower - State Archives. To ensure the safety of documents, it was erected on a cast-iron frame. From the side, you can see the 15 m high lancet entrance of the Sovereign, through which the monarch enters the Parliament building for the annual opening ceremony of the regular session. At this time, its standard is raised on the flagpole, on other days the British banner is visible above the tower.
Westminster Hall, a masterpiece of wooden architecture, miraculously survived all the fires. Its grandiose vaults are supported not by columns, but by intricate arched brackets built by the carpenter Hugh Erland in 1393. Coronations took place here, royal courts worked, the famous trials of Charles I, Thomas More, and the arsonist Guy Fawkes took place.
The House of Parliament is open to tourists on Saturdays and in between sessions. Tours are conducted by appointment, visitors examine the meeting rooms of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, their lobbies, decorated with statues of English monarchs and generals, the room where the queen wears regalia and jewelry before going out to the deputies, a room with portraits of all the wives of Henry VIII.
Practical information
Address: London, Westminster. Website (arrogant).
How to get there: by metro to the station. Westminster, by buses No. 148, 211 to the stop. Parliament Square or No. 12, 53, 159, 453 to the stop. Westminster Station Parliament Square.
Opening hours from 9:00 to 17:00, detailed information on the site of the palace.
The ticket price for adults 28 GBP, seniors and students - 23 GBP, children over 5 years old - 12 GBP. The prices on the page are for November 2018.
Palace of Westminster
The Houses of Parliament in, known to our compatriots also under another name - the Palace of Westminster, is currently the seat of two parliamentary chambers of England: the House of Lords and the House of Commons Commons).
Palace of Westminster in London: the history of Parliament and the present
The most famous landmark of the parliament building is its tower - the clock tower of Westminster Palace, better known as Big Ben ( Big ben).
The Palace of Westminster began to serve as a stronghold of the monarchy in the middle of the 11th century, when King Edward the Confessor moved the royal court here and the monarchs' apartments were located in central London, near the River Thames.
In 1265, the British Parliament was created, consisting of two houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords always sat in Westminster Palace, but the House of Commons did not have a permanent seat at that time.
In 1530, the residence of the king (at that time he was Henry the eighth) was moved to Whitehall Palace, and the House of Lords continued their meetings at Westminster Palace. Only in 1547 the House of Commons also moved to the palace and Westminster received the status of the central seat of government. This state of affairs continues today.
If you want to see the Houses of Parliament in full perspective, then you need to visit the London Eye (London Eye), the city's Ferris wheel - you will have a magnificent view of the capital and the new Palace of Westminster. "Why new?" - you ask. Unfortunately, in 1834 a fire destroyed almost the entire building, leaving only the Jewel Tower, crypt, St. Stephens Monastery and Westminster Hall.
In order to rebuild the palace from scratch, an architectural competition was held. As a result, Sir Charles Barry and his assistant Augustus Welby Pugin were given the right to develop an architectural project for the restoration of Westminster, which they successfully did. The palace rose from the ashes in the same Gothic, and now - in the neo-Gothic style and added to the ensemble architectural structuresthat survived the fire. The construction took 30 years, and in 1870 it was completely finished.
Today, the Palace of Westminster includes:
- Clock Tower
- Victoria Tower
- House of Commons
- House of Lords
- Westminster Hall
- Lobby
Address: Westminster, London SW1A 0AA, UK, tel. +44 20 7219 3000
Big Ben
He is also called Big Ben. But in fact, the correct name is the Clock Tower, on the top of which is located the largest clock in England. The elegant design of Big Ben's creator, Charles Barry, still captivates the imagination.
Initially it (the Clock Tower) was called the Tower of St. Stephen (Stephen's Tower), but was soon renamed and received the name of the largest bell located inside it - Big Ben. If you are walking in the evening in central London and see that in the top of Big Ben, the light came on, it means that the Parliament is working in the Government building - Westminster Palace.
House of Commons and House of Lords
The building that housed the Commons Chamber was destroyed during the Second World War and was completed in 1950 by Giles Gilbert Scott and today you can admire the neo-Gothic style of the new House of Commons.
If we look at and compare the interior decoration of the halls of the chambers, we immediately get the feeling that the interiors of the House of Commons, made in green tones, look rather modest and strict in comparison with the interiors of the Lords Chamber.
The time that has passed since the formation of the Parliament of England has been more favorable to the House of Commons: today there is a great influence on decisions regarding the future of the country, passions are boiling here, and the ruling party sits opposite the opposition at a distance of exactly two swords, at the distance of one human leg , which forces parliamentarians to be restrained and persistent.
Central Lobby
This room - Central Lobby - gathers people who have come to defend their interests before the government and parliament, it is here that you can make a speech and convince the parliament to make a decision that is necessary either for ordinary citizens of the country, or some branch of the economy, or territorial community. For the fact that in this building every citizen of Britain can declare about the protection and satisfaction of their interests, he was named Lobby, from the English verb "to lobby" - to lobby, to protect interests.
Victoria Tower
The tower opposite Big Ben is called the Victoria Tower. It was built in 1860 and contains archives of parliamentary decisions dating back to 1497. The flag of the United Kingdom is raised above this tower during parliamentary sessions (its height is 98 meters).
