London tours night scene, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. London holidays

London is a city with an amazing history, stunning architecture and world-famous sights. The most iconic sights of London are located in the Westminster area - the Parliament building Westminster, the famous Elizabeth Clock Tower (mistakenly referred to as Big Ben) and the Gothic Church of Westminster Abbey. The abbey is open to tourists only from Monday to Friday, on weekends it only works for parishioners.

The congregational church of St. Peter, and this is the name of the Gothic church through which the entrance to the abbey is carried out is a remarkable creation of Gothic architecture. The abbey was founded in the middle of the 11th century by Edward the Confessor, the last representative of the Wessex dynasty on the royal throne. Here in the territory of the abbey is his tomb, as well as many kings who ruled after him. Like any old building, the abbey was rebuilt and changed over many centuries. And the existing form of the church acquired only in the 13th century.

Westminster Abbey is not just a church, it is a sacred place for all English monarchs. Here begins the path of every ruler of England, since it is in the abbey that the coronation of all the British kings traditionally takes place. Starting from 1300, a special throne was used for this (the chair of Saint Edward), which consisted of wood and stone of Scone, an ancient sacred relic of the Scots. In 1996, the Stone of Scone was returned to Scotland, but with the condition that it will be borrowed for coronations.

The best way to enjoy the sights of a beautiful city is to visit the London Ferris Wheel, which is called the "London Eye". The London Eye is not an ordinary wheel from an amusement park - it's a giant construction with very beautiful glass cabins that hold up to 25 people. One turn of the wheel takes 30 minutes. To get to the London Ferris wheel, as a rule, you need to defend a rather large queue, but if you buy the London Pass, you will hardly have to stand - for the owners of these cards there is a quick entrance to the 60 most famous sights of London. Try it, it is well worth the money spent.

The main place of pilgrimage for tourists in the capital of Great Britain is of course the royal Westminster. The density of palaces, squares and parks here is maximum. Tourists, respectively, too. The first version of the Palace of Westminster, or the Houses of Parliament, was erected in the XI century under Edward the Confessor. In 1265, the first English parliament gathered here, by the beginning of the 19th century, parliamentarians ousted kings long ago (the last monarch Henry VIII moved out of here in the 16th century) and turned the palace into an intricate labyrinth of various buildings and premises, the use of which was determined by long and not less complicated traditions.

The palace has 1,200 rooms, 100 stairs and 5 kilometers of corridors. Of the palace towers, the most famous clock tower which everyone calls the "Big Ben". The tower was erected in 1858, the tower clock was launched on May 21, 1859. The official name is the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster, or St. Stephen's Tower. The height of the tower is 96.3 meters (with a spire); The clock is located at a height of 55 m from the ground.

With a dial diameter of 7 meters and an arrow length of 2.7 and 4.2 meters, the watch has long been considered the largest in the world. The accuracy of the movement of the five-ton clock mechanism is achieved using a coin weighing 1.5 grams: when the clock begins to lag behind, an old English penny is placed on the pendulum, which accelerates its movement by 2.5 seconds per day.

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