London, the capital

London is the capital of the United Kingdom. It is one of the largest cities in the world. More than 8 million people live in Greater London.

London was first built on two low hills on the banks of the Thames. After the Romans left Britain in the 5^th century, London became an important place. It was a great trading centre. In the 11^th century William the Conqueror made London his capital. The Great Fire of London in 1666 de­stroyed many wooden houses and dirty streets. Gradually Lon­don began to grow. The villages around it grew. They became towns. The towns grew into a large area of houses, shops and factories which now form Greater London.

The oldest part of London is the City. It is the business centre of London. During the day it is full of people, but at the end of the day the people go home and the City becomes silentand almost empty.

By the Thames is the Tower of London, one of the oldest and most famous buildings in Britain. It used to be a royal palace, a fortress and a prison. Now it is open for visitors. It is an old tradition to keep ravens in the Tower. Charles II said in 1631 that if the ravens ever left the Tower, it would mean the end of England. A special guard is kept to give them food and look after them.

The Houses of Parliament are in the part of London called the City of Westminster. They stand on the north side of the Thames. Here you can listen to the chimes of Big Ben, one of the biggest bells in the world. If you stand be­side the Houses of Parliament you can look down the street called Whitehall. Here are the main government offices. Near Whitehall is a narrow street called Downing Street. The Prime Minister lives at N_o 10 Downing Street. The Queen lives in Buckingham Palace, but there are other royal palaces in London too.

The architecture of London streets is a mixture of old and new. The buildings are of different height and styles. On the roofs you will see a lot of chimney pots. The view of the great historic buildings is the most beautiful if it is seen from a bridge. There are fifteen bridges over the River Thames.

London has more theatres and concert halls, more pic­ture galleries and museums, than any other city in Britain. The British Museum, for instance, has a wonderful art col­lection. It is also one of the most famous and important li­braries in the world. The National Gallery, which is in the very centre of London, houses the works by almost all the greatest European painters. The Tate Gallery has two sec­tions: the British school from the 18^th century, and modern foreign schools (since 1850).

London is also Britain’s largest port, a national and in­ternational, commercial and financial centre and a major in­dustrial area.

London does not at first, look like an industrial city. In­dustry has moved out of London, especially during the last twenty years. Factories are scattered in the older city districts, where they are often surrounded by streets of small houses. Factories built 40 or 50 years ago are about 16 kilometres from the center of the city.