LONDON The capital of Great Britain Olga Tasenyuk

LONDON The capital of Great Britain Olga Tasenyuk ELT of HC School #172 Moscow 2010

LONDON It is the biggest city of the United Kingdom and one of the biggest cities in the world. It is the oldest city of Britain, it was built by the Romans on the banks of the river Thames.

There about 10 thousand streets in London. Most of the streets are not very wide. The main shopping centre is Oxford Street. People from all over the world shop here.

Hyde Park There are many parks and gardens in London. But this one Londoners love most of all.

THE ROMANS Ø They came to Great Britain in the 1 st century and built a town. They called it Londinium. Soon they built the first bridge. It was the only bridge then. Ø In the 5 th century the Goths were at the gates of Rome and the Romans rushed to defend their Empire. It was in 410. Ø Soon after them the Anglo-Saxon tribes came to the island.

Londinium

LONDON BRIDGE Until 1749 there was only one bridge in London – London Bridge. Old London bridge looked very strange: there were houses and shops on it.

WILLIAM the CONQUEROR In 1066 William from Normandy came to England. He was French. After the battle at Hastings he became King of England. He was afraid of the English and he built the White Tower to live in it. It was the beginning of the Tower of London.

The GREAT FIRE of LONDON On Saturday, on the second of September 1666 a big fire began. It started at night. The wind was strong and wooden houses burnt like matches…The fire burnt for four days and destroyed 80% of the city, but nobody died.

The Great Fire ended with the Great Plague… After the Great Fire people built a new city of stone or bricks. Streets became wider. The city was growing. By 1830 there were more than one and a half million people in London. The railways came and London was becoming richer and richer.

PLACES TO VISIT London is the capital of England. It is its political, business and cultural centre. The heart of London is the City. It is the oldest part of London. Many people work in the City but very few live here. There are many banks and offices here. You can visit some interesting places in the City or near it.

The TOWER of LONDON

Saint Paul’s Cathedral It is one of the greatest English churches. Old St. Paul’s Cathedral was made of wood and burnt in the Great Fire of London. It was rebuilt it in the 17 -th century. It is very beautiful, with many columns and towers. In one of its towers there is one of the largest bells of the world.

Trafalgar Square The centre of London is Trafalgar Square. In the middle оf it stands a tall column. It is a monument to Admiral Nelson with four bronze lions around it. The National Gallery is in front of it.

The National Gallery

Westminster The political centre of London is Westminster. It is the part of London where there a lot of offices of different types. You can a new bridge here. It is very beautiful, especially at night.

If you go down Whitehall from Trafalgar Square on the right you will see a small street – Downing street. Here at number 10 the British Prime Minister lives. Whitehall is a wide street leading to Parliament Square.

The Houses of Parliament On the left there is a long grey building with towers which are the Houses of Parliament. This building is Westminster Palace. The large clock in one of the towers is Big Ben – the clock and the bell of the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament.

Westminster Abbey It is very beautiful and very famous. It is also very old - more than 900 years old. It is built in gothic style. There a lot of monuments and statues here. English kings and queens are buried here. It is famous for the Poet’s Corner - great English poets and writers are buried here too.

QUEEN’S RESIDENCE The Queen of England lives in Buckingham Palace. It is a wonderful large building with a golden monument in front of it. It is the Queen Victoria Memorial.

All these interesting places are quite near one another. It takes only 20 minutes to get from Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square. Of course, there are so many other places of interest to see and visit in London. You are always welcome!

Bloomsbury Square is one of the oldest in London. It is more than 300 years old. It is the literary part of the city. A lot of writers and critics live there.

Piccadilly Circus It is the centre of night life in the West End. This is one of the most popular meeting places of London.

The Odeon One of the best and famous London cinemas is the Odeon.

The Royal Opera House Or Covent Garden, one of the most famous theatres of London, is … in the centre of the vegetable market.

London Buses They are of two kinds: the double-decker and the singledecker. But they are always red. Double-deckers have seats for 65 people. Only 5 people are allowed to stand when the seats are full.

MODERN SIGHTS OF LONDON London is growing and developing. Some modern buildings and interesting places appeared. The most remarkable are: The Cucumber of London and The London Eye.

The Cucumber It is considered to be the most ecological building.

The London Eye It is the largest observation wheel in the world.

Literature used Tom Hutchinson. English Project 2. – London: OUP, 1996. O. Afanasyeva, I. Mikheeva. English 4. – M. : Prosveshchenie, 1998. V. F. Satinova. Read and Speak about Britain and the British. – Minsk, Vysheishaya shkola, 1996.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ATTENTION. GOOD BUY!