London

Maturitní téma z anglického jazyka

Gymnázium F. X. Šaldy

Hana Kyselová

4.A

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom. It lies on the river Thames and covers an area of 1 580 sq kilometres. There live about 12 million in London (including conurbation). London consists of the City of London and 32 boroughs and it is the seat of the Monarch, the Parliament and the Government. There are many important historical buildings, museums, galleries, exchanges etc. so tourism is of great importance. It means London is one of the most important financial, commercial and cultural centres in the world as well as port.

History

The earliest inhabitants here were in the Stone Age. Before Christ there was a Celtic settlement called Llyndin (= lonely port) on the left bank of the Thames. Romans stayed here from 55 BC, only about, 43 AD. Romans made a wall around the city with a bridge, very good streets and watered places. When they left the island in the fifth century, it remained the capital of the Britons. It kept its importance during the Anglo-Saxon times and later during the reign of the Danish kings in the 10^th and 11^th centuries. After the Roman occupation of England the most important port Londinium originated here. But in that time was the capital Winchester. However London is the richest city every time.

During the rule of Germanic tribes Lundenevic ( = London) became the capital of the kingdom Essex and since 1066 it has been the capital of the English Kingdom. During the 12^th century reign of Norman kings, William the Conqueror was the first to come, the royal court moved from Winchester, the former capital, to London, for ever. William win in the battle at Hastings and he overcame the last Anglo-Saxon king Harold II.

The city continued to grow and flourish and gradually extended beyond its walls to absorb the originally separate Westminster. The 16^th century establishment of the trading companies and the Royal Exchange (1565) contributed to the rapid economic rise of London.

In 1665 was in London epidemic of Plague. After the Great Fire in 1666 London developed into a city of world-wide fame. In the 19^th century it was the largest city of the world, the largest port and the most important finical centre. During World War II it was heavily damaged by the German bombing.

The kings of England often needed money. So they moved their capital close to London. But they did not want to live in London itself. It was dirty, smelly and dangerous city. So they made their capital at Westminster. At first the two cities of London and Westminster were separated and there were fields between them. But slowly they grew into one city. The kings built their city to the west of the city, because the prevailing wind in Britain is from the west. The wind blew all the smells from the post and the factories towards the east.

The river Thames divides the very centre into two parts - West End and East End. In the West End there live the Royal family, the aristocrats and very rich people. There are also many historic sights here. In the East End there live especially ethnic minorities, emigrants from former colonies and workers. There are many factories and firms in this area. (As the city grew, the rich people lived in the West End and the poor people lived in the East End. This is changing now, because the docks and a lot of industries in the East End have closed. Now Dockland is becoming a new financial centre and a fashionable place to live.)

The West End

• Westminster Palace houses chambers of British Parliament. British Parliament consists of three parts:

SOVEREIGN (MONARCH) - Queen Elizabeth II

HOUSES OF LORDS - the head of this house is Lord Chancellor. In the past 1999 the Labour Party carried out a huge reform of the house. There used to be over 1200 members in this house and they were peers & peeresses, bishops & archbishops (representatives of the Church of England), lawyers. Lord Chancellor must be always a lawyer, because this house is supreme judicial body. After the reform the member of peers and peeresses has been radically reduced to 92 members.

HOUSE OF COMMONS - here are the members of political parties. The leading political party is the Labour Party. They won the elections in 1997 after 18 years. The head of the Labour Party is Tony Blair. He became British Prime Minister. The party in the opposite is Conservative Party. The head of this party is William Hague. The Liberal Democratic Party (LibDem) is the third party - Charles Kennedy. The head of this House is Speaker.

Westminster Palace is built in pseudo-Gothic style, because it was built in 19^th century. The symbol of British Parliament is clock tower Big Ben. It has its name after the bell that is on the top. Chiming of this clock is very famous.

• Westminster Abbey

It was founded in the 11^th century on the site of an old wood church. Westminster Abbey is the place of coronations of English monarchs. The last one to be crowned there was Queen Elizabeth II, it was in 1953, but she became the Queen in 1952.

It is built in Gothic style. There are buried some of English kings and queens, for example Elizabeth I, her half-sister Mary I (Bloody Mary), Richard II and his wife Queen Ann of Bohemia. Another very famous in this abbey is Poets' Corner. Here are the statues, memory tablets of many writers, poets and even statesmen. Here is buried shrine of Geoffrey Chaucer (+1400). He is the author of “Canterbury Tales”. He is also appreciated for his English, which was considered for standard literary English. It is also place of royal weddings.

• Whitehall is the street with Government offices. Off Whitehall is Downing Street. It's a blind alley. In the house No 10

there always lives British Prime Minister.

• Trafalgar Square

Almost in the middle there is a high column with statue of Admiral Nelson. Nelson was heading the English army against Napoleon. There is National Gallery with precious collection of pictures from all over the world.

• Piccadilly Circus

In the middle of PC there is a little statue of Eros, God of Love. PC is the centre of entertainment. There are many cinemas (in this place or around), theatres, House of Rock. PC is the gate to SOHO. It used to be red-light district. It still is, but much smaller, only a few streets. In this quarter there is a very famous street - Carnaby Street. It is the centre of young fashion. Here is also a famous Leicester Square. Not far from Leicester Square there is Covent Garden. It is famous for the market.

• Oxford Street

It is the main shopping centre. The best-known department store in Oxford Street is Selfridges.

• City

The City starts in Fleet Street and it reaches as far as Tower Bridge. The City is the oldest part of London. There are the oldest sights. At the same time it is the centre of business and finance. There are many banks from all of the world. There is the Bank of England and the Stock Exchange. In Baker Street detectives Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson lived in the imagination of their author Conan Doyle.

• Fleet Street

Fleet Street is connected with the British press. There used to be offices of newspapers, but this street is very narrow. Many offices moved away to the East End.

• St. Paul's Cathedral

It is the most important church. It was built in 17^th century after it was damaged completely in the Great Fire in 1666. Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt it in Renaissance style. His son finished his work. Here are buried in the crypt 2 admirals - Horatio Nelson and the duke of Wellington. Also Christopher Wren is buried in this church.

Not far from St. Paul's we can see Old Bailey, which is the High Court.

• Barbican Centre

In the City there is also the centre of entertainment called Barbican centre. It is a huge complex of theatres, cinemas, concerts halls and very expensive flats.

• Tower of London

It was built by William the Conqueror (the Duke of Normandy) after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. At first it was the royal residence. Later it became prison and, nowadays, it is a museum. We can see there crown jewels, royal robes and weapons. The typical warders of the Tower are Beefeaters. The typical symbol is a raven. There were imprisoned two wives of Henry VIII (his wives - 1. Catharine of Aragon (divorced) - daughter Mary; 2. Anne Boleyn (she was imprison for adultery and she was executed) - daughter Elizabeth; 3. Jane Seymour (she died at childbirth) - son Edward; 4. Anne de Cleves; 5. Catharine Howart (executed); 6. Catharine Pour (outlived)). Another famous person who was imprisoned here was the seafarer Sir Walter Raleigh.

• British Museum

It is one of the biggest museums of the world. There is a museum of clock. There are drawings and engravings by Václav Hollar. He lived in the 17^th century, he was a Czech and his works are very precious, because they capture London before Great Fire.

• The Tower bridge

It is one of the most famous symbols of London. He stands next to the Tower. It can open in the middle and let large ships go through. Built in 1894, it takes 90 seconds to raise. Other well-known bridges are Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge.

• Big Ben

The clock tower with the massive bell called Big Ben is a part of the parliament's architecture. The post office Tower is the highest building in GB (nearly 190m).

• Buckingham Palace

It is a London residence of the Queen. Very famous attraction outside the BP is Changing the Guard.

• Hyde Park is very famous for Speaker' Corner, which is the symbol of freedom of speech. Anybody can come there and

speak about whichever topic, but he mustn't offend the Queen. They also have to stand while speaking on some box, because they mustn't touch on the English soil.

Next to Hyde Park we can see Kensington Garden with Kensington Palace where there live some members of the Royal Family. Not far from here there is Czech embassy.

• Regent's Park - with the London ZOO.

• Greenwich Park is famous for the observatory through which there goes zero meridian.

• London has four airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted.

• London's underground is called tube.

včetně městské aglomerace

okrsků

důležitost

Vilém Dobyvatel

vzkvétat, prosperovat

postupně, zvolna

rozšiřovat, zvětšovat

mimo, za

obchodující

přispívali

sláva, proslulost, věhlas

souboje

panující, převládající

místnost, sněmovna

„aristokrati a aristokratky“

bishop - biskup

nejvyšší soudní osoba

předseda sněmovny

odbíjení, vyzvánění

opatství

korunovace

básníkův roh

svatyně

oceňován

nedaleko

slepá ulička

sloup

vzácný, drahocenný

vévoda

soudní dvůr

strážci

krkavec (ne havran, havran = rook)

cizoložství

přežít, žít déle

rytiny

upoutat, uchvátit

urazit, dotknout se, pohoršit

půda

nultý poledník

London Hana Kyselová

---