Officially it is believed that London was founded in the middle of the 1st century AD. e. However, some scientists believe that the first settlements in this area appeared long before the beginning of our era. So it or not, archaeologists have yet to find out, but for now everyone who has ever visited London admires with admiration the numerous architectural monuments of the Middle Ages.
"London without excursions" from 62 175 rubles. for 8 days
"London Budget (2 excursions)" from 64,175 rubles. for 8 days
"London Standard (4 excursions)" from 65 830 rubles. for 8 days
"London - Edinburgh (5 excursions)", arrival 24.04 from 78 125 rubles. for 8 days
Work with regions, remote service
Visa processing after failure.
Home the first millennium
The history of London, the capital of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as of England, dates back to the capture of the British Isles by the Romans in 43 AD. e. The troops led by Aulus Platius built a bridge to cross the river Thames and created a settlement called Londinium. By 200, the city had become a center of commerce and was surrounded by a fortress wall that defined its borders for the next thousand years.
After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the city's population declined sharply, many buildings were destroyed. And only at the beginning of VII century London began to reborn. In 604 the first cathedral was built. Paul's Cathedral (St. Paul's Cathedral). By the 9th century, as soon as the city regained its function as a trading center, it turned out to be captured by the Vikings. From that moment until the 11th century, the city was ruled by Vikings, then Normans, then by Englishmen until King Edward the Confessor has approved the Anglo-Saxon rule.
The Middle Ages
The narrative of medieval London should begin in 1066 , when William the Conqueror became king of England. The coronation took place in the newly erected Westminster Abbey (Westminster Abbey). Under William, London became the largest and richest city in the kingdom.
In 1176, London Bridge was built - a stone bridge across the Thames, the only one in the city until the end of the 18th century. 15 years later, King Richard I granted London the right to self-government, and a year later the first mayor of the city was elected. In 1565, the Royal Exchange was established, which played the role of a trading center. And in the year 1599 the famous Globe Theater was built, in which the premieres of most of Shakespeare's plays were held.
Surrounded by fortress walls, City of London lived by its own rules, customs and laws. As a result, behind the central part of the city the name "City", which has survived to the present day, was fixed. As in most medieval cities, the central part of the City was occupied by the Chipside highway, which served as a market square. It housed the houses of wealthy townspeople, and fountains with drinking water were placed in the center.
16-19 cc
The history of London until the 16th century is, first of all, the history of the City. And from the beginning of the 16th century a period of complex interaction between the City of Commerce, the administrative Westminster and the workers' East End begins. This century was marked by the breaking of feudal relations, the reformation of the church and the intensive rise of industry. But, at the same time, this is the period of development of English culture, the main center of which was London.
During the reign of Elizabeth I, the population of London doubled and reached by 1600 two hundred thousand people. The city continued to be actively built up, and in 1631, according to a special plan, the Covent Garden piazza was created. Unfortunately, most of the buildings were destroyed by the Great Fire in 1666.
The Victorian era and the acquisition of a modern look
The Victorian era has become a time of London for the intensification of social contrasts. Close to Westminster Abbey, new luxury houses of industrial barons were built, and at the same time the poorly organized neighborhoods of the urban poor were greatly expanded. A city sewer system with a length of about 2,100 kilometers was created. Due to the removal of sewage from the city, the number of cholera diseases decreased and death rate decreased sharply.
| Good old London |
| Hello, sir! |
| London modern |
In 1829 Sir Robert Peel organized the city police, whose representatives were later called " Bobby, "from the abbreviated form of his name. In 1830, the old buildings at Buckingham Palace were demolished and Trafalgar Square was established, where two years later the National Gallery was created.
In 1834, as a result of the fire, the buildings of the Palace of Westminster and Parliament were destroyed, on the site of which it was decided to build a modern Parliament building. After that, the famous clock tower, Big Ben, was built in 1859.
A little later, in 1860, the construction of the London Underground began, The oldest and one of the largest in the world. Three years after the beginning of the work, the first branch was opened, connecting the stations Farringdon Road and Paddington. The first trains worked on coal and emitted the strongest fumes, the first electric train was launched only in 1906.
Since the second half of the 19th century, the West End and the City have gradually become non-residential areas - the most affluent urban dwellers moved to suburbs, more favorable ecology, and well-developed transport allowed to quickly reach the city center. Old buildings were being rebuilt in the center, new ones were appearing, office buildings were being built
After the Second World War, the buildings of modern forms continued to change the look of London, this time not only the old streets, but also many new districts of the city.