The document provides descriptions of several famous London attractions, including: The Houses of Parliament, where British laws are debated and enacted in a Gothic building designed after a fire in 1840. Big Ben, the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world located in the Palace of Westminster. Tower Bridge, the iconic bridge over the River Thames consisting of two towers connected by horizontal walkways. Buckingham Palace, the official London residence of the British monarch located in Westminster.

1. London attractions

2. The Houses of Parliament
The Houses of Parliament is
the place where laws
governing British life are
debated and enacted. The
building originates from
1840 after a fire destroyed
the previous building. The
Gothic style was designed by
Sir Charles Barry with help
from A.W. Pugin.
Parliamentary tradition is
steeped in pomp, ceremony
and splendour. The Queen
rides in her State coach to
Westminster to open each
new session of Parliament,
usually in the second week
in November

3. Big Ben
Big Ben is the nickname for the
great bell of the clock at the north
end of the Palace of Westminster in
London,and is often extended to
refer to the clock or the clock tower
as well.Big Ben is the largest four-
faced chiming clock and the third-
tallest free-standing clock tower in
the world.It celebrated its 150th
anniversary in May 2009 (the clock
itself first ticking on 31 May 1859),
during which celebratory events
took place.

4. Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and
suspension bridge in London, England, over
the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of
London, which gives it its name. It has become
an iconic symbol of London.
The bridge consists of two towers which are
tied together at the upper level by means of
two horizontal walkways which are designed to
withstand the horizontal forces exerted by the
suspended sections of the bridge on the
landward sides of the towers. The vertical
component of the forces in the suspended
sections and the vertical reactions of the two
walkways are carried by the two robust towers.
The bascule pivots and operating machinery
are housed in the base of each tower. Its
present colour dates from 1977 when it was
painted red, white and blue for the Queen's
Silver Jubilee. Originally it was painted a
chocolate brown colour. Tower Bridge is
sometimes mistakenly referred to as London
Bridge, which is actually the next bridge
upstream.A popular urban legend is that in
1968, Robert McCulloch, the purchaser of the
old London Bridge that was later shipped to
Lake Havasu City, Arizona, believed that he
was in fact buying Tower Bridge. This was
denied by McCulloch himself and has been
debunked by Ivan Luckin, the seller of the
bridge.

5. Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is the official London
residence of the British monarch.Located in the
City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for
state occasions and royal hospitality. It has
been a rallying point for the British people at
times of national rejoicing and crisis.
Originally known as Buckingham House, the
building which forms the core of today's palace
was a large townhouse built for the Duke of
Buckingham in 1703 on a site which had been
in private ownership for at least 150 years. It
was subsequently acquired by George III in 1761
as a private residence for Queen Charlotte, and
known as "The Queen's House". During the 19th
century it was enlarged, principally by
architects John Nash and Edward Blore, forming
three wings around a central courtyard.
Buckingham Palace finally became the official
royal palace of the British monarch on the
accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The last
major structural additions were made in the late
19th and early 20th centuries, including the
East front which contains the well-known
balcony on which the Royal Family traditionally
congregate to greet crowds outside. However,
the palace chapel was destroyed by a German
bomb in World War II; the Queen's Gallery was
built on the site and opened to the public in
1962 to exhibit works of art from the Royal
Collection.

6. London Eye
The Merlin Entertainments London Eye (known more simply as The London Eye, and
also known as the Millennium Wheel), at a height of 135 metres (443 ft),is the largest
Ferris wheel in Europe, and has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in
the United Kingdom, visited by over three million people in one year.At the time it
was erected, in 1999, it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until it was
surpassed by the Star of Nanchang (160 m) in May 2006, and then the Singapore
Flyer (165 m) on 11 February 2008. However, it is still described by its operators as
"the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel" (as the entire structure is
supported by an A-frame on one side only

7. Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a square in central London,
England. With its position in the heart of
London, it is a tourist attraction; and one of the
most famous squares in the United Kingdom
and the world. At its centre is Nelson's Column,
which is guarded by four lion statues at its base.
Statues and sculptures are on display in the
square, including a fourth plinth displaying
changing pieces of contemporary art, and it is a
site of political demonstrations.
The name commemorates the Battle of
Trafalgar (1805), a British naval victory of the
Napoleonic Wars. The original name was to have
been "King William the Fourth's Square", but
George Ledwell Taylor suggested the name
"Trafalgar Square".
The northern area of the square had been the
site of the King's Mews since the time of Edward
I, while the southern end was the original
Charing Cross, where the Strand from the City
met Whitehall, coming north from Westminster.
As the midpoint between these twin cities,
Charing Cross is to this day considered the
heart of London, from which all distances are

8. Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress,
more commonly known as the Tower of
London (and historically as The Tower), is
an historic fortress and scheduled
monument in central London, England, on
the north bank of the River Thames. It is
located within the London Borough of
Tower Hamlets and is separated from the
eastern edge of the City of London by the
open space known as Tower Hill. It is the
oldest building used by the British
government.
The Tower of London is often identified
with the White Tower, the original stark
square fortress built by William the
Conqueror in 1078. However, the tower as
a whole is a complex of several buildings
set within two concentric rings of
defensive walls and moat.
The tower's primary function was a
fortress, a royal palace, and a prison
(particularly for high status and royal
prisoners, such as the Princes in the Tower
and the future Queen Elizabeth I). This last
use has led to the phrase "sent to the
Tower" (meaning "imprisoned"). It has also
served as a place of execution and torture,
an armoury, a treasury, a zoo, the Royal
Mint, a public records office, an
observatory, and since 1303, the home of
the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

9. Westminster Abbey
Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred
to popularly and informally as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic
church, in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster.
It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English, later British
and later still (and currently) monarchs of the Commonwealth Realms. It
briefly held the status of a cathedral from 1546–1556, and is a Royal Peculiar.
Westminster Abbey is governed by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, as
established by Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I in 1560, which created it as
the Collegiate Church of St Peter Westminster and a Royal Peculiar under the
personal jurisdiction of the Sovereign. The members of the Chapter are the
Dean and four residentiary Canons, assisted by the Receiver General and
Chapter Clerk. One of the Canons is also Rector of St Margaret’s Church
Westminster Abbey (who currently also holds the post of Chaplain to the
Speaker of the House of Commons). In addition to the Dean and Canons there
are at present two full time minor canons, one precentor the other succentor.

10. The British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its
collections, which number more than seven million objects,are amongst the largest and
most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and
documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present.
The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the
physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. The museum first opened to the public on 15
January 1759 in Montagu House in Bloomsbury, on the site of the current museum
building. Its expansion over the following two and a half centuries has resulted in the
creation of several branch institutions, the first being the British Museum of Natural
History in South Kensington in 1887. Until 1997, when the current British Library
building opened to the public, replacing the old British Museum Reading Room, the British
Museum was unique in that it housed both a national museum of antiquities and a
national library in the same building.

11. Tate Gallery of Modern Art
The Tate Modern in London is
Britain's national museum of
international modern art and is,
with Tate Britain, Tate
Liverpool, Tate St Ives, and Tate
Online, part of the group now
known simply as Tate.
The galleries are housed in the
former Bankside Power Station,
which was originally designed by
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the
architect of Battersea Power
Station, and built in two stages
between 1947 and 1963. The
power station closed in 1981.
The building was converted by
architects Herzog & de Meuron
and contractors Carillion,after
which it stood at 99m tall. The
history of the site as well as
information about the
conversion was the basis for a
2008 documentary Architects
Herzog and de Meuron: Alchemy
of Building & Tate Modern. The
southern third of the building
was retained by the French
power company EDF

12. National Gallery
The National Gallery in London,
founded in 1824, houses a rich
collection of over 2,300 paintings
dating from the mid-13th century to
1900 in its home on Trafalgar Square.
The gallery is a non-departmental
public body; its collection belongs to
the public of the United Kingdom and
entry to the main collection (though
not some special exhibitions) is free
of charge.
The present building, the third to
house the National Gallery, was
designed by William Wilkins from
1832–8. Only the façade onto
Trafalgar Square remains essentially
unchanged from this time, as the
building has been expanded
piecemeal throughout its history.
The building often came under fire
for its perceived aesthetic
deficiencies and lack of space; the
latter problem led to the
establishment of the Tate Gallery for
British art in 1897. The Sainsbury
Wing, an extension to the west by
Robert Venturi and Denise Scott
Brown, is a notable example of
Postmodernist architecture in
Britain.

13. The Victoria & Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's
largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5
million objects. Named after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, it was founded in 1852, and
has since grown to now cover some 12.5 acres (0.05 km2)and 145 galleries. Its collection
spans 5000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, in virtually every medium,
from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. The museum is a non-
departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture,
medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among
the largest and most comprehensive in the world. The museum possesses the world's
largest collection of post-classical sculpture, the holdings of Italian Renaissance items are
the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China,
Japan, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in
Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection,
alongside the Musée du Louvre and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is amongst the
largest in the world.