London is a large city with many important boroughs and landmarks. Some of the most notable areas include the City of London with St. Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge, Westminster containing Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, and the West End featuring Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street. London has over 40 universities, hundreds of languages spoken, and is connected by trains and three major airports. Important government and historical buildings include Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and Tower of London. Popular tourist attractions include Big Ben, London Eye, Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, various museums, and shopping destinations like Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street and Harrods. London also has an extensive underground metro system known as the

1. Chiara Sbarbada2016

2. London is called “the horizontal city”. It has many boroughs, but the most
important are:
• THE CITY (Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St.Paul’s Cathedral)
• WESTMINSTER (Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square)
• WEST END (Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Street..)
• EAST END (Canary Wharf, Millenium Dome)
Chiara Sbarbada2016

3. London is the largest city in Europe. Its inhabitants are called “Londoners”
It has 43 universities, the largest concentration of higher education in
Europe, more than 300 languages are spoken within London.
London is twinned with New York, Moscow and Berlin
It has three airports:
HEATHROW (The most important ), West of London.
GATWICK, South of London
STANSTEAD, North of London.
London is also the last stop of
the Eurostar train going and
coming from Paris, through the
Eurotunnel, an underwater
tunnel under the Channel.
Chiara Sbarbada2016

4. It is where all British laws are decided.
There are 3 main towers and 1000 rooms.
It was almost completely destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666.
The Parliament is made up of The House of Commons and the House of
Lords.
The Queen can enter into the House of Parliaments only once a year.
Chiara Sbarbada2016

5. • The “Elizabeth Tower” (this is the name of
the tower after the Queen’s Jubilee) was
finished in 1858.
• The hour hand is nearly 3 metres long and
the minute hand is over 4 metres long.
• Big Ben is the name of the bell that rings
every hour. It is nicknamed after Sir
Benjamin Hall, the commissioner of the
works.
Chiara Sbarbada2016

6. Buckingham Palace is where the Royal Family live.
The Foot Guards guard the Palace. They wear red jackets and tall, furry
hats called bearskins.
The building has 775 rooms (78 bathrooms),1,514 doors and 760 windows,
a cinema and a swimming pool.
In front of it, in the big square, there is a golden statue of Queen Victoria,
the first queen to live there.
The big, straight road that goes from Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar
Square is called “The Mall”Chiara Sbarbada2016

7. • The London Eye was built in the year 2000. It was placed in front of
The Houses of Parliament, close to Waterloo train station.
• There are 32 capsules.
• It takes 30 minutes to go all the way around.
• Each year 3.5 million people go on the London Eye.
Chiara Sbarbada2016

8. Chiara Sbarbada2016
The first part of the Tower of London was built by William the Conqueror in
1078 but what we now call the Tower is actually a collection of several
different buildings.
Hundreds of years ago it was most famous as a prison where many
prisoners were even tortured or killed! Now it is famous as the home of
the crown jewels.
The guards of the Tower of London wear special Tudor uniforms and they
are called “Beefeaters”

9. • It has stood over the River Thames, the second longest river in England, since
1894.
• To maintain the integrity of the structure, the City of London Corporation has
imposed a 20-mile-per-hour (32 km/h) speed restriction.
• It is open to cars and pedestrians and is crossed by 40,000 people every day!
• The middle section can be raised. It used to be raised about 50 times a day,
but nowadays it is only raised 4 to 5 times a week. It takes 61 seconds to open
Tower Bridge
Chiara Sbarbada2016

10. It was named in commemoration of Admiral Nelson’s great victory over
Napoleon. It was completed in 1840 and four giant lions were added 25
years later.
Norway always sends a huge Christmas tree that stands in the square,
as a token of gratitude for Britain's help during the Second World war.
In front of Nelson’s column there is the National Gallery, a wonderful free
museum of paintings.
Chiara Sbarbada2016

11. The Abbey was built by Edward the Confessor.
Every King and Queen has been crowned in Westminster Abbey since William
the Conqueror in 1066.
National figures including Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, Sir Isaac Newton,
Rudyard Kipling, are buried in Westminster Abbey. And there is also Elizabeth
I’s tomb.
The last important ceremony in Westminster Abbey was the Royal wedding of
William and Kate.
Chiara Sbarbada2016

12. St Paul’s is in the City.
The present St.Paul’s Cathedral is
probably the fourth. The third was
destroyed by the great fire of 1666.
The dome of St Paul's Cathedral is the
second biggest dome in the world, after
St Peter's in Rome.
In 1981 there was the famous wedding
of Prince Charles and Lady Diana
Spencer.
Chiara Sbarbada2016

13. • National Gallery (only paintings)
• British Museum (with the Rosetta Stone)
• Tate Modern
• Natural History Museum
• Madame Tussauds. (waxworks museum)
Chiara Sbarbada2016

14. • Hyde Park (with Kensington Gardens)
• Green Park
• St.James’ Park
(in front of Buckingham Palace)
• Regent’s Park
Chiara Sbarbada2016

15. Chiara Sbarbada2016
Popular places to visit in Hyde Park are
The Princess Diana Memorial fountain
and the statue of Peter Pan

16. THE GHERKIN (The City)
The Gherkin was completed in December 2003. It is
180 metres tall and has 40 floors. The building was
designed by Norman Foster who also designed City
Hall, the Millennium Bridge and Wembley Stadium!
The Gherkin was designed to be very
environmentally friendly and only uses half the
power of other towers like it.
CITY HALL (Southwark)
City Hall is the headquarters of the Mayor of
London, Boris Johnson. On the 9th floor there is a
balcony that is open to the public and gives great
views of Tower Bridge, the Tower of London and
the Gherkin!
Chiara Sbarbada2016

17. THE SHARD (Southwark)
The Shard is the tallest building in
London and in the European Union.
It has 95 floors.
It was inaugurated in July 2012,
during the Olympic Games.
It was designed by the Italian
architect Renzo Piano and it was
one of the first skyscrapers built
after the Twin Towers attack.
Chiara Sbarbada2016

18. Chiara Sbarbada2016
Piccadilly Circus is a road
junction in London's West
End, built in 1819 to connect
Piccadilly with Regent Street, a
beautiful road full of shops like
Hamley’s (a six floors toyshop)
The Circus is close to major
shopping and entertainment
areas in the West End. It is a
busy meeting place and a tourist
attraction. The Circus is
particularly known for its video
display and neon signs and statue
of Eros.
At the end of Regent Street there is
Oxford street, another important
place for shopping.

19. Chiara Sbarbada2016
HARRODS
It is located in Knightsbridge and it is the biggest department store in Europe,
with 330 departments. They say you can buy anything at Harrods.
More than five thousand staff from over fifty different countries work at Harrods.
From 1989 Harrods has had a dress code policy and has turned away several
people who were not dressed “appropriately”, like a soldier in uniform, a scout
troop and footballers wearing tracksuits.

20. London was the first country in the world to have an underground railway,
in 1863.
There are 12 different tube lines that run underneath London, with 270
stations.
The Tube system is divided in 6 different zones.
55% of the London Underground, is not underground.
Chiara Sbarbada2016