In Great Britain, such a symbol is considered Big Ben - the north tower of London's Westminster Palace.
Important news!
Big Ben closes for renovations since 2017
On August 21, 2017, at 12:00, the clock sounded for the last time before the start of the major reconstruction.
The updated North Dial is unveiled
March 21, 2019 - The recently restored Elizabeth Tower North Dial is unveiled.
It is very convenient to visit Big Ben and other main symbols of the city as part of a sightseeing bus tour with a personal audio guide in Russian. It also includes a Thames cruise, which adds even more locations to the journey! The ticket price is £ 35.10. ...
Don't forget to buy the Big Ben Tower souvenirs!
How to get to Big Ben?
Address: Palace of Westminster, Old Palace Yard, London SW1.
You can get to it by bus that goes to Parliament Square or to the Whitehall Street stop (Trafalgar Square). Those who prefer the metro should get off at Westminster (District Line) or Victoria (Jubilee Line).
Close to major attractions and save travel time.
We are waiting for your comments on the new image of the famous Beg-Ben!
Generally. However, the capital of Great Britain is so juicy in terms of historical and cultural attractions that it is simply unrealistic to fit everything in one article. In principle, just like seeing the main "goodies" of the city in one day.
If you, my dear reader, on the first day of your stay in London, for sure, ran to look, the second day was simply created in order to go to the iconic fortress.
Over 900 years of its history, the Tower of London has managed to visit a palace, a prison, a treasury, an observatory, and even a zoo. Since then, the appearance of the fortress has remained practically unchanged. Today, the Tower houses a museum and treasury of the British Crown. There are also private apartments in the building, in which high-ranking guests are received, and the staff also live here.
It is better to visit the fortress sutra if you plan to have time to see a lot in the Tower itself and in the vicinity. Entrance to the Tower is paid, adult ticket - £ 25 at the box office (£ 23 online, on the official website), children (5-15 years old) - £ 12 (10.75).
Next to the Tower of Fortress there is another iconic object of London -. In the 19th century, designers had to work hard on the project so that the new bridge across the river would become not just an overpass for the rapidly increasing traffic flow, but also a structure that would harmoniously fit into the architectural style of the capital. It's hard to believe now, but at the end of the 19th century, Tower Bridge was the only place in the city center where you could get from one bank of the Thames to the other.
It took 8 years to build the bridge, and in 1894 the 265 meter long bridge was finally completed. Many Londoners initially disliked the bridge for its Victorian Gothic design, but gradually got used to it, and over time it became one of the main symbols of London.
In the Tower Bridge area there is an excellent embankment with modern residential buildings and office buildings, on the ground floors of which there are many restaurants and cafes with a summer terrace. Rumor has it that this part of London is the most expensive real estate in the city per square meter.
On the other side of the Thames, I met such an unusual monument. According to unconfirmed information, the idea of \u200b\u200bthis creation was embodied by a local architect, impressed by the masterpiece he heard Igor Nikolaev - "Dolphin and Mermaid".
If you want to see where the British queen lives, you are in. A significant part of official royal ceremonies are held here, such as receptions of foreign heads of state or appointed foreign ambassadors. More than 50 thousand people every year are honored with invitations to state banquets, lunches, dinners and official receptions, including the royal one. The Queen also holds weekly meetings with the Prime Minister here.
One of my favorite places in London is Trafalgar Square. Local architecture can not but please the eye. There are always a lot of tourists here. Locals also like to make appointments here. In the middle of the square is the 56-meter Column of Nelson with a statue of Admiral Nelson at the top.
Here, there is a pretty cute fountain nearby, and in the background on the right you can already see Big Ben, which is about five minutes walk from here.
Trafalgar Square is also home to the London National Gallery, the third most visited art museum in the world. More than 2,000 paintings are displayed here, including works by Rubens, Titian, Van Dyck and other great artists.
Monument to some general. Even if I knew which one, it is unlikely that this information would have survived with you longer than a second after reading these lines.
Walking around London, one gets the impression that this city is endless. Monuments, ancient buildings, parks. You turn right - beauty, left - beauty, backward, forward - the same thing. And so, kilometer after kilometer, until the moon changes the sun. It even becomes somehow boring. No rubbish, no dull five-story Khrushchev houses, no boorish sellers. No, well, I'll still find the weak points of this city, you won't get off so easily, London!
When talking about the symbols of England, the famous landmark of London is immediately presented - the Big Ben tower.
What is Big Ben
Big Ben is the largest of the six bells in Westminster Palace. Many people think that this is the name of the clock tower in London, but in fact this is the name of the 13-ton bell that is located inside it, behind the dial.
Big Ben's official name was "The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster." In 2012, by the decision of the British Parliament, this landmark of England was renamed the Elizabeth Tower (in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Queen's reign).
Despite other names, the name "Big Ben" remains the most popular and is used generically to refer to the tower, clock, and bells.
All about Big Ben: history and description
The clock tower was built in Westminster in 1288 and at that time had a completely different look.
In 1834, there was a huge fire in Westminster Palace and everything burned down. Its restoration was undertaken by Charles Barry, together with the architect Augustus Welby Pugin, who designed the current neo-Gothic clock tower. In 1859, when Big Ben was built, the clock was launched and to this day they accurately count the time.
There are two popular versions after whom the London watch is named. The first version sounds like this: the tower got its name in honor of Benjamin Hall - the one who built Big Ben, or rather supervised the construction, he was quite large in build and was often called Big Ben. Another version of why the clock tower is called so is in honor of the popular heavyweight boxer Benjamin Count.
Big Ben height
The tower, including the spire, measures 320 feet (96.3 meters). To imagine what Big Ben looks like, imagine the height of a 16-story building.
There are no lifts or lifts in the tower, so it is closed to the public. Sometimes exceptions are made to this rule, and then visitors climb 334 steps to go upstairs.
Clock
The clock on the Big Ben Tower in London is still the largest in the world. The dial diameter is 7 meters. The length of the arrows is 2.7 and 4.2 meters.
The watch movement is considered the standard of reliability, its total weight is 5 tons. The watchmaker Edward John Dent was in charge of its assembly and completed the work in 1854. A fundamentally new double three-stage movement was created, which allows better separation of the pendulum and the five-ton movement.
The watch is so reliable that even during the Second World War, when German bombing damaged two dials and the roof of the tower, it did not interrupt its course. Thus, this British landmark has become a symbol of the accuracy and reliability of all English. At the bottom of each dial is the inscription "God Save Our Queen Victoria", which is also absolutely in the English spirit.
- 13 tons - that is how much Big Ben (the largest bell in Westminster Palace) weighs.
- The London clock is the international time standard and is also considered the largest four-sided striking clock in the world.
- The accuracy of the clock is regulated with a 1 penny coin (if necessary, the coin is placed on the pendulum and its movement slows down by 0.4 seconds per day).
- In the bell tower, in addition to Big Ben (which sounds every hour), there are four more quarters, which ring every quarter of an hour. A melody is published, consisting of 20 consecutive Cambridge chimes, for each quarter of an hour - its own composition of chimes.
- To the sounds of Big Ben, the British greet the coming of the New Year, and also mark all the mournful events and minutes of silence.
- News programs in England begin with a photograph of this tower.
- Almost all documentaries and feature films about England use Big Ben in their screensaver.
- Once in Big Ben, there was a prison for parliamentarians who behaved violently at meetings, the last prisoner was Emmeline Pankhurst, she fought for women's rights. In honor of this woman, a monument is erected on Parliament Square, where Big Ben stands.
Information about Big Ben: where it is located, address on the map
Location: London, Parlament Square
Address: Palace of Westminster, Old Palace Yard, London SW1
Nearest metro station: Westminster on the circle
How to get there by bus: to Parliament Square or to the Whitehall Street stop (Trafalgar Square).
If you are suddenly tired of the imposing architecture of the Kingdom of Great Britain, you can visit one of the very first museums of Madame Tussauds, with a unique collection of wax figures.
We all know from school that the most famous bridge in London is Tower Bridge. Its unusual appearance makes it easily recognizable: on imposing river pillars, there are two Gothic-style towers, which are connected by drawbridges and pedestrian galleries.
Its main difference from other bridges is that it is drawbridge and is the lowest over the Thames. It got its name due to its proximity to the Tower, which is located on the north side.
Short story
For a long time, the Thames was crossed by one London Bridge. However, the sharp economic growth and population growth that began in the 19th century showed the need for the construction of additional bridges, which were supposed to help solve the transport problem of the capital.
Over the years, more than one bridge has been built, but traffic problems have not diminished. Soon a committee was formed, which examined dozens of projects, and only in 1884 was the project approved by John Wolf Bury and Goras Johnson.
More than 400 workers worked on the construction of the bridge for 8 years. The opening took place on June 30, 1894, and was attended by Prince Edward of Wales and his wife, Princess Alexandra.
The bridge was made in the Gothic style, but with a number of innovative designs. Thanks to the hydraulic system, just a couple of minutes is enough to provide free passage to the sailing vessel. Until 1974, the bridge was raised due to the operation of steam engines, in the furnaces of which coal was burned, which drove the pumps. They pumped water into reservoirs, storing energy. But progress did not stand still, and the entire mechanism was replaced by an electro-hydraulic system, which significantly saved time and costs. Now the bridge was raised not on schedule, but out of necessity.
Over the years, Tower Bridge, along with Big Ben, have become real symbols and one of the main attractions of London.
Today Tower Bridge is one of the most visited attractions in England. Many tourists, coming here, consider it an honor to take a walk through the legendary structure, especially since many hotels in London send them on very informative and complex excursions around the city.
Information for visitors
Address: Tower Bridge Road, London SE1 2UP, United Kingdom
You can walk along Tower Bridge:
- in the summer season (from April 1 to September 30) - from 10:00 to 18:30 (last entry at 17:30);
- in the winter season (from October 1 to March 31) - from 09:30 to 18:00 (last entry at 17:00).
Ticket prices:
You can buy tickets at
Big Ben (Great Britain) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.
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The clock tower of Westminster Palace in London is known all over the world as Big Ben. The Palace of Westminster hosts meetings of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, it is easy to lose the right direction in the many-kilometer hallways of the palace, there is hardly a person who has visited all of its 1200 rooms, but the most famous part of the palace - the clock tower - is known, without exaggeration, to everything world and is one of the most striking architectural symbols of the city.
The height of the tower is 96 meters; inside it is a narrow spiral staircase of 334 steps. After passing all of them, you can get to a small open area with the famous Big Ben bell. It is he who beats the time every hour, it is his sounds that are transmitted every hour on the BBC radio. It was this bell that gave the name to both the clock and the tower itself.
The bell is large: 2 meters high and 3 meters at the base. The dimensions of the watches are no less striking: their diameter is 7 meters, and the hands are 2.7 and 4.2 m long.
The clock was launched on May 21, 1859 (the tower itself was built a year earlier) and to this day is listed in the list of the largest clocks in the world. Their four dials are made of opal glass, bordered with gilded frames and have a Latin inscription, which means “God save our Queen Victoria”. This clock also has global significance: officially, the new year on planet Earth begins with the first blow of Big Ben on January 1.
Interestingly, Londoners living near Westminster Palace hear thirteen bells of Big Ben on New Year's Eve: the effect is due to the fact that the speed of sound is slower than the speed of propagation of radio waves.
Unfortunately, there is no way for the general public to climb the Big Ben Tower: safety concerns come first. But from time to time the press and various important guests of the UK get the opportunity to climb it. But even important guests are forced to climb the stairs on their own: there are no lifts inside the tower.
The Big Ben Clock Tower systematically becomes the "heroine" of many films, personifying the image of London.
