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When visiting Great Britain there are various historical cities and sites to explore. Britain has a full and interesting history dating back 10,000 years.

One of Britain’s main cities, London is actually considered a new city, becoming a major settlement about 2,000 years ago. So let’s focus on London as our city of interest to learn about its history, architecture, and sites that have now become popular tourist attractions.

London is in fact two cities, the city of London and the City of Westminster. In addition there are 32 Boroughs ,two of which are Royal Boroughs. The Royal Boroughs have Palaces such as Buckingham Palace and Hampton Court.

Although the city is the commercial and financial centre there are numerous banks at Canary Wharf, a development of UK high rise buildings and are built in the former docklands area and to the East of the City, and North of Greenwich. London, often called just the ‘City,’ is about one square mile and there are over 700 hundred banks registered, though.some just have a representative office.

For the tourist, the main sites are Tower Bridge and The Tower of London. They have a similar appearance architecturally but were built almost a thousand years apart. Tower Bridge, completed in 1894 and is registered, for insurance purposes, as a ship, has it’s roadway lifted whenever a ship,needs to pass underneath. The two spans of the bridge weigh 1000 tons.

On The North of the River ,to the west of Tower Bridge, is the Tower of London. The full name is ‘Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London,’ started by The Norman Invaders in 1078.

They invaded and conquered England in 1066, the last successful invasion of England, though others have tried none have succeeded.

The tower was expanded and developed over the centuries but the central part is of considerable age. In 1240 The King made it a palace and his home. Henry the VIII, had many of his wives and those who he wanted rid of imprisoned and some executed there.

In more modern times, German spies were executed in the courtyards during the two World Wars. I

n 1941, Hitler’s deputy, Rudolph Hess, who some say was a trifle odd and flew uninvited at the height of the war to try to persuade the British that Hitler was not all bad, was actually imprisoned in the Tower.

The Jewel House is where you’ll find the Crown Jewels, a collection of gold, silver and, precious stones. Two permanent features are the Ravens flightless birds, which legend says their continued residence ensures the safety of the British Commonwealth and Beefeaters.

If looking for a city where you can discover towers, medieval palaces, courtyards, and a little history combined with new, you may want to book a trip to London!

For more information about historical royal palaces please visit http://www.hrp.org.uk

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