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Parliament. The Palace of Westminster

Well, since we have already seen so many English castles

Then we can’t get past the Palace of Westminster. And its history began a very long time ago.

This building arose in 1840-1860 on the site of an old palace that burned down in 1834, which by that time was a combination of the most diverse buildings. However, during the fire, they managed to save, in addition to the badly damaged crypt under the chapel of St. Stephen, the architecturally most valuable part of the old palace is Westminster Hall. Fate turned out to be merciful to him and for the second time: the hall survived during the devastating bombing German aviation in May 1941, when the adjacent House of Commons Hall was destroyed.

For modern London, Westminster Hall is the best and most expressive monument of medieval secular architecture. Started in 1097, it was rebuilt at the end of the 14th century. Henry Yevel, a talented London mason, laid out the walls. The famous wooden floors were built with the participation of the royal carpenter Hugh Erland.

But let's get it right...

In 1215, eighteen barons, who were in opposition to royal power, forced the English king John Landless to sign the Magna Carta, which laid the foundation for the English constitution. A few years later, Baron Simon de Montfort, one of the leaders of the opposition, convened the first English Parliament. However, despite its ancient origins, Parliament for a long time did not have his own residence: meetings had to be held in the ancient Westminster Hall or share the Chapter Hall of Westminster Abbey with the monks. Only in 1547 did the English Parliament receive its permanent residence in the St. Stephen's Chapel of the old Palace of Westminster, which until the 16th century was the main residence of the English kings.

In the place of Westminster in ancient times there was an impenetrable swamp. However, the swamp was dried up, and a royal palace was erected in its place. The palace was close to the Thames, next to Westminster Abbey, a few miles from the City.

The first palace was built for King Edward the Confessor, who came to the throne in 1042. Forty-five years later, for William Rufus, son of William the Confessor, Westminster Hall was built - the most elegant hall in Europe, where a feast was held in 1099. In the 13th century, Henry III added a painted chamber, and during his reign the first parliament was convened (from the French verb "parler" - to speak).

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January 20, 1265 at the Palace of Westminster met the first English Parliament, convened by Simon de Montfort Earl of Leicester. In order to give the established order the appearance of legality, Montfort put forward the initiative to create a council in which, along with the rest, the third estate would be represented. Collected on January 20, 1265, this council very quickly developed into a permanent body, called the Parliament.

To adapt the chapel for holding parliamentary sessions, it was completely built up with benches and galleries, which, of course, distorted its architectural appearance. In addition, the entrance to it passed through Westminster Hall, where the Supreme Court of England sat. However, despite a number of inconveniences, the House of Commons met in St. Stephen's Chapel until the fire of 1834, after which it again found itself without permanent place.

After the fire in the slightly damaged part of Westminster Hall, parliament still continued to temporarily sit, and the architect Smirke accepted the proposal to arrange two temporary rooms for their meetings on the ruins of the burnt chambers. The architect diligently set to work and usefully used all the parts that had survived from the fire. The former premises of the upper House of Lords were restored and given to the work of the House of Commons, and the Lords themselves received the restored Art Gallery for their meetings.

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But by the summer of 1835, a special commission decided to build a new one in the old place. Westminster Palace. According to legend, the choice of location was largely determined by security considerations: in the event of popular unrest, the Parliament building, located on the banks of the Thames, will not be surrounded by an indignant crowd. The palace was recommended to be built in the Gothic or Elizabethan style, that is, in the spirit of the secular architecture of England at the end of the 16th century.

97 projects were submitted to the competition, 91 of which were made in the Gothic style. Preference was given to the project of C. Barry, a young architect, but by that time the author of several well-known buildings. In addition to the main halls for the meetings of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, it was necessary to provide premises for the ceremonial ceremony of the annual opening of Parliament with the presence of the Queen, who opens its work. We needed separate voting rooms, corridors that would connect the central halls with libraries, canteens, as well as many other utility rooms. And Charles Barry was able to very logically arrange all this myriad of courtyards, rooms and corridors.

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In 1837, on the banks of the Thames, builders began to build terraces that pushed the river back, and three years later, C. Barry's wife laid the first stone in the foundation of the new Palace of Westminster.

To restore this masterpiece of architecture, a special commission was created, and soon a competition was announced for the development of the project, in which about a hundred people took part. As a result, ninety-seven options were considered, of which the project of Charles Barry (1795-1860) was recognized as the best. Restoration was entrusted to him, which he did in a magnificent Gothic style with the help of Augustus Pugin, who completed the picturesque ornamental work. St. Stephen's Chapel was renamed St. Stephen's Hall. It is a wide corridor lined with paintings, marble sculptures, and a lagoon marker where the speaker's chair used to be.

The preparatory work dragged on for 3 years - it took to build terraces on the banks of the Thames. Only in 1840 did work begin on the Parliament building itself. The construction of the palace was completed in 1888.

Currently, the building of the Palace of Westminster, which is now simply called the Parliament, is located in central London and is one of the most large buildings in the world. According to some, it is the main attraction of the English capital.

The Palace of Westminster stretches far along the banks of the Thames and covers an area of more than three hectares. Despite its size, the Parliament building does not overwhelm with its immensity, but on the contrary, caresses the eye with the lightness and beauty of its majestic romantic forms, although it has elements of late Gothic and some asymmetry of the silhouette and individual details. Outside, it is crowned with innumerable small turrets, and its walls are decorated with lancet windows, lovely rosettes, and lacework of stone trimming of cornices and windows. The Parliament is especially beautiful in the evenings, when its towers and spiers, flooded with spotlights, stand out like a fantastic crown in the dark sky.

The main verticals of the Palace of Westminster are the Victoria Tower (its height is 104 meters), rising above the royal entrance to the Parliament, and the Big Ben clock tower, 98 meters high. The name of the main hour bell, weighing more than 13 tons, was named after Benjamin Hall, Minister of Public Works. The clock itself, which has four 9-meter dials, was arranged under the guidance of the famous astronomer Erie. When the clock strikes the time, all British radio stations broadcast them. The "Victoria Tower" forms the royal entrance to Parliament, and during parliamentary sessions, the British national flag is hoisted on it.

The opening of the work of parliamentary sessions is accompanied by solemn traditional ceremonies. The royal couple arrive in a gilded carriage drawn by eight cream-coloured horses. These horses descend in a straight line from those that William of Orange brought with him to England from Holland at the end of the 17th century.

The royal throne, upholstered in red velvet and adorned with gold and diamonds, stands on a special dais in the House of Lords under an inlaid Gothic canopy.

The success in the construction of the Palace of Westminster, the architect C. Barry, was largely due to cooperation with O. Pugin, an enthusiast and connoisseur of English Gothic. An excellent draftsman, passionately in love with the art of the Middle Ages, he also participated in the development of the details of the facades of the palace. It was thanks to the inventive imagination of O. Pugin that the facades of the Parliament and its towers were decorated with intricate stone carvings. O. Pugin worked especially hard on the interior design of the Palace of Westminster, although some researchers note that sometimes his sense of proportion changed somewhat. You will not find smooth ceilings and walls anywhere, everywhere carved panels, canopies, niches, bright mosaics, huge frescoes, the floors in many rooms are lined with yellow, blue and brown tiles. somewhat tiring, but in the 1840s they delighted the wealthy bourgeois public.

Of greatest interest in the Palace of Westminster is the interior of the House of Lords and the premises associated with it by parliamentary ceremonial: the Royal Gallery for ceremonial processions; the room in which the Queen is dressed for her solemn appearance in Parliament; waiting room for the exchange of views and making private decisions and others.
The ceiling of the House of Lords is completely covered with images of heraldic birds, animals, flowers, etc.; its walls are lined with carved wooden panels, above which are images of six frescoes. Eighteen bronze statues of the barons who secured Magna Carta from the king stand in niches between the windows, looking out over the inlaid canopy of the royal throne, the rows of benches covered in bright red leather, and the famous "woolen bag" of the Lord Chancellor. Centuries ago, this bag, covered with red cloth, was stuffed with wool, personifying the emblem of English industry. At present, the original "wool sack" has become a museum piece, but the tradition has remained: the chairman of the House of Lords, dressed in a black and gold robe and a lush white wig, opens the meeting, sitting on a soft red sofa without a back.

In the hall of the House of Commons there is not that stately pomp that is present in the hall of the House of Lords. This is not a very large room, finished in dark oak, and the dark green benches in it, running in parallel rows, leave only a small passage in the middle. Members of the lower house of parliament during their meetings can even sit in a hat, but the chairman (speaker) is always dressed solemnly: in an old black suit, stockings and shoes, and according to the old tradition, his head is covered with an indispensable wig.

The arrangement of the speaker's place is also associated with long traditions. His armchair, behind and on the sides surrounded by an iron lattice, stands in front of the front door. In former times this portcullis protected the President of the House of Commons from occasional attacks. During the reign of the Stuarts, the speakers were henchmen of the king, so they often complained about all sorts of incidents. For example, how some deputy “stood behind my chair and barked in my ear so much that I, like the other members of the chamber, was extremely frightened”; or how some “deputy came up and stuck out his tongue at me.”

The need for an iron lattice has long passed, but the builders of the new building did not dare to deviate from tradition.
In the hall of the House of Commons, in front of the speaker's chair, there is a large table on which lies a mace - a symbol of the speaker's power, and three secretaries in judicial robes and wigs sit at the table.

At the western end of the hall of the lower house of the English Parliament, several steps lead down to the vestibule, on the right side of which the entrance to Westminster Hall opens. It remains from that huge building, the foundation of which was laid in 1097 by William the Red, the son of William the Conqueror. Burnt in a fire in 1291, Westminster Hall was rebuilt in its present form in 1308.

Westminster Hall is a very large hall, its dimensions are 88x21x28 meters. Its ceiling does not rest on a single column, and there is no other such building. This ceiling was refurbished in 1820, for which timber was taken from old ships of the line.

Many historical events took place in Westminster Hall, perhaps only the Tower has seen more dramas than this hall. The first English Parliament met in it, and Kings Edward II and Richard II were deposed here; in it, Richard III received his captives - the Scottish king David II and the king of France, Jean the Good. In this hall, the utopian philosopher Thomas More heard his death sentence, King Charles II was tried here. At Westminster Hall, during the coronation of George IV, a knight rode on horseback, throwing down a glove to anyone who dares to challenge the crown of his king.

At Westminster Hall, through a small door, now sealed up, King Charles I appeared and demanded the extradition of five members of the opposition. It was the only case in the whole history of the English parliament, when the king entered the hall of the lower house. Here, later, Charles I himself was tried, and the crowd that filled the hall and looked out the windows shouted: “Execution! Execution! The king's death sentence was passed unanimously, and this document is still kept in the library of the House of Commons.

At Westminster Hall, Oliver Cromwell, in a purple and ermine robe, with a golden scepter in one hand and a Bible in the other, assumed the title of Lord Protector. And four years later, here, his head was put on a stake.

Both chambers are connected by a corridor to Westminster Hall, which is the central hall of the building and occupies the middle of the palace. The corridor itself serves as a kind of reception room, a place of communication between parliamentarians and the "outside world", so there is always a revival here and there are a lot of public and tourists.

Part of the Palace of Westminster, which houses the hall of the House of Commons, was destroyed during the Second World War, but the general Gothic character of its architecture was preserved during the restoration. Unfortunately, the details of decoration carved in stone and wood and many other items of decoration, which previously constituted a single style complex with the entire room, could not be repeated. Lighting spotlights modern forms further violated the artistic integrity of this hall.

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Another long tradition has been preserved in the English Parliament since the 17th century. In 1605, a group of conspirators dug under the building of the Palace of Westminster and laid gunpowder there in order to blow up all the deputies along with the king at the time of the solemn meeting. The plot was uncovered, and Guy Fawkes, who led the gunpowder plot, was executed along with his accomplices. But every year the guards, dressed in ancient costumes, with lanterns and halberds in their hands, search all the cellars and nooks and crannies of the palace. The lanterns of the guards are without candles, since the lower floors of the Parliament are well lit by electricity. It is known in advance that they will not find any barrels of gunpowder, especially since the new palace was built two and a half centuries after the “gunpowder plot”. But every year, on November 5, the guards, led by the bailiff of the chamber (“the bearer of the black rod”) go around the basement and check if there are any new intruders….

Westminster Hall covers an area of 1800 square meters. Its height is 28 meters. This is one of the most grandiose medieval halls known in the architecture of Western Europe, the wooden roof of which, moreover, is not supported by any supporting pillars. The span of the hall, 21 meters wide, is covered with carved oak open rafters, supported by a complex system of wooden brackets that are strongly extended forward. The shape of these overlaps is difficult to describe.

It is usually customary to compare them with the frames of ancient frigates, as if turned upside down. But this comparison by no means reveals the full complexity of the construction, the high level of carpentry skills of the builders and the amazing artistic effect that they managed to achieve. Such a system of wooden floors, usually used in residential buildings and parish churches in England, was one of the peculiar achievements of English medieval architecture and nowhere else in Europe has it become so widespread and has not reached such a high artistic level as in this country.

In Westminster Hall, one is surprised by the integrity of the composition, the impeccability of proportions and lines of the carved pattern. Over the centuries, the wood of the floors has darkened, and now they seem to be immersed in a mysterious twilight. The space of the hall is filled with silvery-purple light pouring through the colored stained-glass windows of the gothic lancet windows. According to the British, in any weather it blows cold from the walls. Everything reminds of the antiquity of the hall, helps to revive the events that took place in it.

The Houses of Parliament is the most significant creation of the architect Barry. And although it caused the most controversial judgments and assessments, this did not prevent it from immediately becoming one of the city's attractions. Attention is drawn to the correctly found proportion of the main volumes of such a significant structure in its scale. When viewed from afar, the almost classical austerity and wide scope of its facades, and at the same time, the picturesqueness of its outlines as a whole, invariably impresses. The mighty, square in plan, Victoria Tower and the huge clock tower, asymmetrically located in the northern and southern parts of the palace, give it a unique identity. Together with a small tower with a spire, placed above the central hall, they not only decorate it, but also balance the huge length of the facades with their height.

The Victoria Tower, rising 104 meters in height, marks the royal entrance to Parliament. During the session, the British national flag is raised on it. The clock tower is 98 meters high. It has a clock mechanism, which is highly accurate. We can say that this is the "main clock" of the state. A huge bell "Big Ben" (Big Bon), specially cast for the tower, weighing 13.5 tons, strikes the clock. Big Ben's fight is constantly broadcast by English radio stations. The watch got its name from Benjamin Hall, one of the construction leaders. During the parliamentary session, with the onset of darkness, a searchlight is lit on the tower.

The British Empire erected for its parliament a building of rare splendor and size even according to the tastes of that time. Reference books give figures: 3.2 hectares of area, 3 kilometers of corridors, 1,100 rooms, 100 stairs. . . Of course, dry figures do not reveal the artistic merits or shortcomings of the palace, but to some extent they testify to the complex layout of the building, which affected the features of the parliamentary structure, the traditions that have long accompanied meetings, and the daily business life of the English Parliament. In addition to the main halls of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, it was necessary to provide premises designed for the ceremonial ceremony of the annual opening of Parliament with the presence of the Queen reading the throne speech. We needed special rooms for voting, kilometers of corridors that would connect the central halls with libraries, canteens, and various utility rooms. Barry managed to arrange all this myriad of rooms, corridors, courtyards in a very logical way.
The northern part of the building, overshadowed by the Victoria Tower, is occupied by the House of Lords and the premises associated with it by parliamentary ceremonial. These include: the magnificent Royal Gallery, designed for ceremonial processions; the room in which the Queen is dressed for her solemn appearance in Parliament; lobby, in literal translation from English - a waiting room, but in fact - the sidelines, a room for exchanging opinions, making private decisions. Characteristically, the same term in parliamentary jargon refers to a group of figures who, in their own interests, put pressure on deputies.

In the southern half of the palace, next to Big Ben, is the hall of the House of Commons. There is also the lobby of the House of Commons, voting rooms, the residence of the speaker.

Corridors connect these most important parts of the Palace of Westminster with the Central Hall, which occupies the middle of the building and serves as a kind of reception room, a place for members of Parliament to communicate with the “outside world”. This room is almost always lively. Deputies accept petitions from their constituents. Journalists, having learned the latest parliamentary news, immediately report it to their agencies from numerous telephone booths. There are a lot of people and tourists here.
From here, a corridor leads to St. Stephen, built on the site of a chapel destroyed by fire. From the dais at the end of the hall opens best view on the interior of Westminster Hall.

Barry, the builder of the Houses of Parliament, owed much of his success to his contemporaries to his collaboration with Augustus Pugin, a great connoisseur of Gothic architecture, a man fanatically in love with the art of the Middle Ages and its zealous propagandist. In addition, Pugin was an excellent draftsman. Research recent years show that many carefully and even gracefully executed architectural drawings of the Palace of Westminster belong to his hand.

Thanks to the inventive imagination of Pugin, the facades and towers of Barry were decorated with intricate stone carvings. Pugin's inspiration was the Henry VII Chapel, built in the late Gothic "perpendicular" style and located right there, just across the street from the new palace under construction. Pugin worked especially hard on interior design of the Houses of Parliament. However, here the sense of proportion often betrayed him. Nowhere you will find a calm surface of ceilings and walls. Everywhere - carved wooden panels, canopies, niches, bright mosaics, huge frescoes, colorful wallpapers. The floors of many rooms are lined with tiles - yellow, blue, brown. The fragmentation of the ornament, the overload of details, the variegation of colors - everything that delighted the wealthy bourgeois public of the 1840s, tires the eye of the modern viewer and only prevents them from noticing the truly high craftsmanship.

Of greatest interest is the interior of the House of Lords. Decorative techniques found in the interior decoration of the entire palace reach their climax here. The ceiling is completely covered with images of heraldic birds, animals, flowers, etc. The walls are lined with carved wooden panels, above which there are six frescoes. Eighteen bronze statues of the barons who won Magna Carta from King John stand in the niches between the windows, looking out over the inlaid canopy of the royal throne, the rows of pews covered in bright red leather, the famous sofa of the Lord Chancellor.

This sofa recalls a long tradition: the Lord Chancellor used to sit in parliament on a wool sack, symbolizing the foundations of British trade and wealth. The original wool sack has now become a museum piece, but the tradition has remained: the chairman of the House of Lords, dressed in a black and gold robe, in a lush white wig, opens the meetings of the House sitting on a soft sofa.

And also, by tradition, at the north end of the House of Lords there is a bronze wrought-iron barrier, marking the place of the members of the House of Commons and the speaker who heads it, which they occupy during the opening of Parliament.

Part of the Palace of Westminster, which houses the House of Commons, was destroyed during the Second World War. During the restoration work, the general Gothic character of the architecture was preserved. But the decoration details carved in stone and wood, as well as many items of decoration that previously constituted a single stylistic complex with the entire room, were not repeated. The introduction of lighting spotlights of modern forms further violated the artistic integrity of the appearance of the hall. However, in its original form, the hall of the House of Commons was much more modest and businesslike than the hall of the House of Lords. Its walls were covered in dark oak panelling, and its pews were upholstered in green leather. This combination has been preserved to our time.

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sources
wonderny.ru
grand-arch.ru
world-art.ru

It is the hallmark of the capital of Great Britain and the seat of its parliament, consisting of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The architectural complex, also known as the Parliament, is located in the Westminster area. This included masterpiece of architecture includes historical London sights, the main of which are Westminster Hall and the Big Ben and Victoria towers.

Palace of Westminster construction history

The first Palace of Westminster, according to surviving documents, was built in an uninhabited and marshy area in 1042. It was erected by order of the rulers of the kingdom instead of the Tower, which, with the expansion of the city, in some incredible way ended up in the most impoverished quarter of the capital.

One has only to imagine what the authorities of the capital experienced among the poor, who still "smelled badly." This state of affairs simply forced the main building of the city to be moved away from the impoverished "rabble" of London. How could monarchs rule a country in such a terrible place? A new residence in a swampy area, from the windows of which the position in which England found itself in those distant times was not so clearly visible, was almost completely completed by 1042.

The Palace of Westminster was constantly growing: already 45 years after its completion, it was decided for the son of the legendary William the Conqueror to attach Westminster Hall to the architectural structure. The son of the great commander, who won many victories over his enemies in his lifetime, was called William the Red II.

It was this man who decided that the palace must necessarily have the most luxurious hall in which it would not be a shame to arrange magnificent receptions and even conduct coronation ceremonies in front of representatives of other countries. In addition to these ceremonies, by order of William the Red II, Westminster Hall began to constantly hold meetings of the highest judicial authority in England - the Supreme Court of the country.

The Palace of Westminster is interesting not only for its architecture. In the distant 13th century, a very important document was signed here, which played a key role in the formation of the political structure of England. It is under this document that many prestigious colleges currently teach students what a modern, secure, democratic state should look like and how to get rid of bureaucracy and tyranny. It was in the 13th century that King John of England, under pressure from the public, signed a decree that went down in history as the Magna Carta.

Naturally, there was no talk of any anarchy in it. All the "liberties" consisted in the fact that the king was deprived of the right to single-handedly rule the country: since the 13th century, many important decisions regarding foreign and domestic policy were made by the parliament, which was elected by the people. Monarchs have become only a kind of symbol of the country, something like a coat of arms or a flag.

Even taxes were introduced and calculated by the parliament, which was just the same salvation for the impoverished population of the country. For this reason, the Palace of Westminster can be considered not only the “visiting card” of London, its main attraction, a monument of architecture and history, but also a symbol of the constitutional parliamentary monarchy.

It is possible to talk about the construction of the Palace of Westminster and its expansion for an infinitely long time: the people constantly supported the improvements of the building, because the parliament sat there, which at one time saved it from the arbitrariness of the monarchs. However, in 1834, almost the entire Palace of Westminster, built in 1042, burned to the ground. From the former majestic building where the Parliament of England met, two buildings remained: the same Westminster Hall and the tower of jewels.

Restoring the building for Parliament was an urgent matter: immediately after the fire, the British government announced a competition for the best plan for the new Palace of Westminster. It was won without much difficulty by Charles Barry, who presented a grandiose and unique project of its kind.

True, Barry was well aware that it was impossible for him to cope with all the work alone, so he enlists the cooperation of Augustus Welby Pugin, with whom he builds the very Palace of Westminster, the view of which any tourist visiting the capital of England can enjoy today.

According to the plan of Charles Barry, a new building for the parliament was decided to be built in neo-Gothic (new Gothic style). To say that the construction of the Palace of Westminster took place in record time and "without a hitch" would not be true. There were difficulties, and they constantly arose before the architects and the huge number of workers involved in the construction of the facility. The construction site had to be prepared for more than three years, and the construction of the Palace of Westminster took just over 48 years (from 1840 to 1888).

Over such a long period of time, not only the Palace of Westminster was rebuilt, but also the Tower of St. Stephen, which can be found in our time on a huge number of posters, calendars and other printed matter - the very famous and legendary Big Ben, which, of course, knows almost every civilized inhabitant of our planet.

St Stephen's Tower or Big Ben

Despite the fact that the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben were built relatively recently, there is no exact evidence of where the name of St. Stephen's Tower "Big Ben" came from. There are only versions, and versions, as you know, are quite easy to refute.

Some historians claim that Benjamin Hall, who was affectionately called Ben, who was in charge of the construction of the Palace of Westminster and St. Stephen's Tower, was of enormous growth. Others claim that Big Ben got its "nickname" in honor of the popular boxer. However, the most interesting and, at the same time, the most confusing version says that the tower was named after one representative of the parliament. His name was also Benjamin and his last name was Hall. He went to the podium and began to explain for a long time how to call the clock tower.

He talked for so long that he himself was confused in historical facts, and no one was listening to his mumbling. Finally, after an hour and a half, he ended his tirade, which had no meaning as such. Parliament breathed a sigh of relief and one of its members asked the speaker a question: "So what do you propose in the end?". Benjamin Hall was confused, and someone shouted: "Let's name the tower after this long and tedious speech - Big Ben!" The joke was accepted with a bang and the tower got its name. Which of these three versions to believe, everyone decides for himself. It is worth repeating, not a single official evidence in favor of this or that opinion has been found today.

Before the clock was installed on the tower of St. Stephen, quite a long time passed. The delays were connected with the requirements of the London authorities. The clock should lag behind or advance no more than 1 second per day. All the most respected watchmakers simply laughed at such a condition: 19th century technology simply did not allow the creation of a giant clock that had to be placed on a high tower and run with extreme accuracy.

Only Edmund Beckett Denison took up the development of the plan, who managed to fulfill all the requirements in five years. The clockwork of Big Ben did not lag behind by more than a second a day. By the way, the weight of the watch designed by Edmund Beckett Denison is just over 5,000 kilograms.

The height of the Tower of St. Stephen or Big Ben is almost 96 and a half meters. Many may think that this is the tallest building architectural ensemble called the Palace of Westminster. However, this opinion is far from the truth, tall tower Palace is the Victoria Tower, its height is 102 meters. In some tourist brochures, another figure is indicated - 98.4 meters, but it has nothing to do with reality.

The tower, named after Victoria, was built so huge with only one purpose, to fit in it the entire archive of documents considered by the Parliament of England. Big Ben and the Victoria Tower, however, like other rooms, are made entirely of refractory materials: the 1834 fire at the Palace of Westminster has forever remained in the memory of Londoners.

During World War II, the Palace of Westminster in London became a prime target for Nazi pilots. To hit him with a bomb was an honor for every Luftwaffe ace. For this reason main symbol London, where Parliament met and where Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his fiery speeches, was seriously damaged. The Palace of Westminster, which, as mentioned above, is a symbol of the constitutional parliamentary monarchy, was completely reconstructed in 1950.

It cannot be said that the building was only slightly damaged, on the contrary, the damage to the Palace of Westminster was serious: it was possible to revive it completely in 5 years only thanks to the huge budget and the heroism of the English workers. Alas, the bombs also hit the legendary Big Ben. The clock mechanism "gave a serious failure", it began to lag behind by as much as 2 seconds a day. The British eliminated the problem quite quickly and simply: they only did that they attached a coin to a huge pendulum. The weight of just one penny affected Big Ben's clock, and it again ticked with extreme precision.

Architecture and sights of the Palace of Westminster

Outside, it is crowned with innumerable small turrets, and its walls are decorated with lancet windows, lovely rosettes, and lacework of stone trimming of cornices and windows. The Parliament is especially beautiful in the evenings, when its towers and spiers, flooded with spotlights, stand out like a fantastic crown in the dark sky.

11 courtyards, each of which is unique, just over 100 staircases, corridors with a total length of more than five kilometers and 1,200 rooms - where else in the world can you find such scale and splendor? The area of the palace is huge, but thanks to the Neo-Gothic style, it does not seem like a massive bulk, on the contrary, it creates the impression of “lightness” and fits organically into modern London. Although, it would be more correct to say that modern London is in harmony with the Palace of Westminster.

Parliament, which is perhaps the most famous in the whole world, consists of two houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. They are located at different ends of the building and are interconnected by several giant halls at once, between which there are also corridors. It takes a long time to get from one chamber of the Palace of Westminster to another. However, a journey through these halls and corridors turns into a real tour of the museum!

The walls of the rooms connecting the chambers are decorated with wall paintings. Most of the paintings, which depict almost the entire history of Foggy Albion, starting from the reign of King Arthur, belong to the brushes of the most famous artists in the world. They, according to art historians and numerous guides, have no price - they are priceless.

The ceiling of the House of Lords is completely covered with images of heraldic birds, animals, flowers, etc.; its walls are lined with carved wooden panels, above which are images of six frescoes. Eighteen bronze statues of the barons who secured Magna Carta from the king stand in niches between the windows, looking out over the inlaid canopy of the royal throne, the rows of benches covered in bright red leather, and the famous "woolen bag" of the Lord Chancellor.

Centuries ago, this bag, covered with red cloth, was stuffed with wool, personifying the emblem of English industry. At present, the original "wool sack" has become a museum piece, but the tradition has remained: the chairman of the House of Lords, dressed in a black and gold robe and a lush white wig, opens the meeting, sitting on a soft red sofa without a back.

Adjacent to the House of Lords is an antechamber, furnished with the same sumptuous luxury as the hall of the Upper House itself. The northern doors from it lead to a corridor that ends at the octagonal Central Hall. There are statues of English kings in niches around the entire hall.
In the hall of the House of Commons there is not that stately pomp that is present in the hall of the House of Lords. This is not a very large room, finished in dark oak, and the dark green benches in it, running in parallel rows, leave only a small passage in the middle.

Members of the lower house of parliament during their meetings can even sit in a hat, but the chairman (speaker) is always dressed solemnly: in an old black suit, stockings and shoes, and according to the old tradition, his head is covered with an indispensable wig. In the hall of the House of Commons, in front of the speaker's chair, there is a large table on which lies a mace - a symbol of speaker's power, and three secretaries in judicial robes and wigs sit at the table.

The lanterns of the guards are without candles, since the lower floors of the Parliament are well lit by electricity. It is known in advance that they will not find any barrels of gunpowder, especially since the new palace was built two and a half centuries after the “gunpowder plot”. But every year, on November 5, the guards, led by the bailiff of the chamber (“the bearer of the black rod”) go around the basement and check if there are any new intruders….

The Palace of Westminster in London (in English “The Palace of Westminster”) is the modern face of the United Kingdom, which is proud of its thousand-year history. If Buckingham Palace is the residence of the Queen, then the British Parliament sits in this place. The building fascinates with its grandeur and magnificent panorama that extends over the Thames. This Victorian gothic gem is a constant draw for tourists and Londoners alike. Each of them seeks to plunge into history and see the Palace of Westminster close by, where the main attractions of Great Britain are located: Big Ben, the Royal Gallery and Westminster Hall.

Panorama of the Palace of Westminster

History of the Palace of Westminster

Have you ever wondered why Westminster got that name? Its history goes back to the distant 11th century, when the Anglo-Saxons dominated these lands. They were the first to create a temple here, originally called the western church, that is, “west minster”. Over time, this name spread to the entire area located on the banks of the Thames.

In 1066, the first ever coronation of Duke William took place at Westminster. He turned the palace into his residence. Since then, all monarchs, except for Edward V and Edward VIII, held the ceremony here.

Since the 13th century, the palace has been the meeting place of the British government. And in 1512, after a massive fire in the building, King Henry VIII decides to completely transfer Westminster into the possession of the Houses of Parliament. Since then, the palace has become the center of the political life of the country. However, most of the solemn ceremonies continue to be held here.

Royal Gallery, where solemn ceremonies take place

During its existence, Westminster was repeatedly destroyed. In 1834, part of the palace was destroyed by another fire. The decision of the Parliament to stay in the building simply saved it from decline, because a partial reconstruction was carried out here so that the Chambers could continue to work.

Another fatal page in the history of the parliament building was World War II. The numerous bombings that London experienced could not but affect the condition of the building. However, Westminster was able to recover fairly quickly. Already in the 50s, the Palace of Westminster, the photo of which is given below, acquired its usual appearance.

House of Parliament after the 1950 war

Now the palace includes:

westminster hall where celebrations and various exhibitions are held
tower of royal jewels, where the hereditary jewels of the British royal dynasty are kept, and an exposition dedicated to the history of Parliament
Church of the Intercession of St. Mary to which only parliamentarians have access. Here they are allowed to hold marriage ceremonies and baptisms.
Corridor and meeting rooms separated for staff offices.

Another integral part of the Palace of Westminster is the towers located on its territory. Designed once as a chimney, the Central Tower now has over 400 fireplaces. The Victoria Tower continues to serve as the Parliamentary Archives, with over 3 million documents. Yet the most famous among them is the Elizabeth Tower, which flaunts the work of Sir Edward Beckett - Big Ben.

To the west of the palace is the famous Westminster Abbey. British kings, prominent scientists and politicians found their last refuge in it. Here marriages were born that continued the British royal line, and baptisms of the heirs of the crown were held, changing the course of history. The monastery was built over 500 years, starting from the 13th century, but the first mention of it dates back to the 7th. It is here that you can fully feel the atmosphere that reigned at the coronation of British monarchs. After all, this place has witnessed all the outstanding ceremonies since the 11th century.

View of Westminster Abbey

Tour of the Palace of Westminster

The Palace of Westminster inside surprises with its grandeur and size. It has 1100 rooms, 100 stairwells, and this despite the presence of only 4 floors, as well as almost 5 kilometers of corridors. The lower, so-called basement floor contains offices, dining rooms and bars. The first floor, which is also called the main one, includes the main halls of the palace: libraries, a meeting room, and a lobby. Two more floors are used for office space for parliament workers.

Every year in November, the opening ceremony of Parliament takes place in Westminster. The monarch is always present on it. During the opening, it passes through the Royal Stairs, the Normandy Veranda, the Royal Gallery, the Prince's Chamber and completes it with the House of Lords. Despite all the destruction that the palace had to experience during the Second World War, and numerous examples of art, in particular wall paintings, destroyed after fires, its modern appearance attracts crowds of amazed tourists. Lush decor, stucco and wooden decoration of the halls, chandeliers that captivate attention - the interior of the parliament is not inferior to the royal residences. Externally, the building looks no less magnificent, its monumentality is breathtaking: sharp spiers, tall walls with stained-glass windows, wide archways. The palace in Westminster, towering over the Thames, really has something to charm the eyes of its guests.

House of Lords in the palace

Interesting facts about Westminster Abbey and Palace

Since Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster are some of the most historical sights not only in the United Kingdom, but in the whole world, most of the facts about them are no longer new to the British and even people who have never been here. However, we still found in the history of the Palace of Westminster Interesting Facts For you.

Although Westminster Abbey is known as such among visitors, its real name is St. Peter's Collegiate Church, Westminster.
During World War II, the coronation chair was sent to Gloucester Church for preservation, and the stone was buried under Westminster Abbey.
Big Ben is not really Big Ben. The tower is called the Elizabeth Tower, and the clock inside is called the Great Clock of Westminster. The origin of the name Big Ben is still unknown.
Westminster Hall is the oldest part of the castle from when the palace was built, and its roof is the oldest medieval structure in Britain.
The decoration colors of the palace actually carry a hidden meaning: gold is the color of the monarch, red is the color of the House of Lords and green is the color of the House of Commons. Their hierarchy is also followed here - gold on top, red in the middle, and green on the bottom.

The surrender of Parliament over the Thames

Where is the Palace of Westminster located: address, opening hours

You can get to the Palace of Westminster using the underground. The nearest station is Westminster. Entry tickets you can buy on the spot by ordering by phone or online, here you can also print them. Entrance prices range from £18 to £28, depending on whether you use a guide or audio guide. Children under 5 years old are entitled to free admission. Tourists with disabilities can, if necessary, be provided with an escort to move around the territory. Tours are also offered at the Palace of Westminster for groups of 10 people or more.
Please note that tours are held in April, May and August, similar to Buckingham Palace, but it is better to check the exact dates and times on the Internet.

Night panorama of Westminster

Hanna Koval

Palace of Westminster

The building of the British Parliament (Houses of Parliament) in, known to our compatriots also under another name - the Palace of Westminster (Palace of Westminster), is currently the seat of two parliamentary chambers of England: the House of Lords (House of Lords) and the House of Commons (House of commons).

Palace of Westminster in London: the history of Parliament and the present

The most famous landmark of the Houses of Parliament is its tower - the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster, better known as Big Ben ( Big Ben).

The Palace of Westminster began to serve as a stronghold of the monarchy in the middle of the 11th century, when King Edward the Confessor moved the royal court here and the apartments of the monarchs were located in the center of London, near the River Thames.

In 1265, the British Parliament was created, consisting of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords has always met in the Palace of Westminster, but the House of Commons at that time did not have a permanent seat for meetings.

In 1530, the residence of the king (at that time it was Henry the Eighth) was moved to Whitehall Palace, and the House of Lords continued its meetings in the Palace of Westminster. It wasn't until 1547 that the House of Commons also moved into the palace and Westminster was given the status of the central seat of government. This state of affairs continues today.

If you want to see the Houses of Parliament from a full perspective, then you need to visit the London Eye (London Eye), the city's Ferris wheel - you will have a magnificent view of the capital and the new Palace of Westminster. "Why new?" - you ask. Unfortunately, in 1834, a fire destroyed almost the entire building, only the Jewel Tower, the crypt, St. Stephens Monastery and Westminster Hall survived.

To rebuild the palace anew, an architectural competition was specially held. As a result, Sir Charles Barry (Sir Charles Barry) and his assistant Augustus Welby Pugin (Augustus Welby Pugin) received the right to develop an architectural project for the restoration of Westminster, which was successfully done by them. The palace rose from the ashes in the same Gothic, and now - in the Neo-Gothic style and added to the ensemble those architectural structures that survived the fire. The construction took 30 years, in 1870 it was completely finished.

Today, the Palace of Westminster includes:

Clock Tower
Victoria Tower
House of Commons
House of Lords
Westminster Hall (Westminster Hall)
Lobby

The address: Westminster, London SW1A 0AA, United Kingdom, tel. +44 20 7219 3000

Big Ben

Also known as Big Ben. But really correct name- The Clock Tower, on top of which is the largest clock in England. The elegant design of the creator of Big Ben - Charles Barry still impresses the imagination.

Initially, it (the Clock Tower) was called St. Stephen's Tower, but was soon renamed and received the name of the largest bell placed inside it - Big Ben. If you walk in the evening in the center of London and see that in The light on the top of Big Ben lit up, which means that Parliament is working in the Government building - the Palace of Westminster.

House of Commons and House of Lords

The building that housed the Commons Chamber was destroyed during the Second World War and was rebuilt in 1950 by Giles Gilbert Scott, today you can admire the neo-Gothic style of the new House of Commons.

If we consider and compare the interior decoration of the halls of the chambers, then immediately there is a feeling that the interiors of the House of Commons, made in green tones, look rather modest and austere compared to the interiors of the Lords Chamber.

The time that has passed since the formation of the Parliament of England was more favorable to the House of Commons: today there is a sense of big influence on decisions regarding the future of the country, passions boil here, and the ruling party sits opposite the opposition at a distance of exactly two swords, at a distance of one human foot, which makes the parliamentarians be self-possessed and steadfast.

Central Lobby

In this room - the Central Lobby - people who came to defend their interests before the government and parliament gather, it is here that you can make a speech and convince the parliament to take this or that decision, which is necessary either for ordinary citizens of the country, or for some sector of the economy, or territorial community. For the fact that in this building every citizen of Britain can declare the protection and satisfaction of their interests, it was called the Lobby, from the English verb "to lobby" - to lobby, protect interests.

Victoria Tower

The tower opposite Big Ben is called the Victoria Tower. It was built in 1860 and houses the archives of parliamentary decisions dating back to 1497. The Flag of the United Kingdom is raised above this tower during parliamentary sessions (its height is 98 meters).

In official documents, the Houses of Parliament is still referred to as the "Palace of Westminster" or "New Palace of Westminster" and has the status of a royal palace.
When the court left the Palace of Westminster, which housed the Royal Court from the time of Edward the Confessor until the reign of Henry III, and moved to Whitehall Palace, two most important inhabitants remained in Westminster - parliament and the judiciary.

The courts held their meetings in Westminster Hall, and Parliament had to huddle in two rooms: the House of Commons occupied the chapel of St. Stephen, and the House of Lords - the former premises of the Court of Motions, dissolved in 1641.
Old Westminster Palace(in the background - Westminster Abbey) from the side of the River Thames.

From the end of the eighteenth century until the accession of William IV, there was talk that Parliament needed a new building; Sir John Soane, the architect of the Bank of England building, presented his project for discussion, other architects followed his example, but the conversations turned out to be in vain.

But one night in 1834, the problem was resolved in just a few hours. Someone sent to burn the wooden plates from which the treasury notes were printed, overdid it a little, keeping the fire going; the flames fanned by a sharp October wind engulfed the park and ancient buildings in the twinkling of an eye, from which soon only smoking firebrands remained.

Fire brigades rushed to the scene of the fire, but the flames were too strong for them to cope with it. However, the descendants are still indebted to the valiant London firefighters who saved Westminster Hall that terrible night.

When the young Victoria ascended the throne, she was surprised to find that her Parliament had no home. It took several years to clear the area after the fire and to hold a competition among architectural designs; There was only one condition for the contestants - the new building should be in the Gothic or Elizabethan style.

victoria tower(view from the cloister of Westminster Abbey).

Since the construction of St. Paul's Cathedral in England, no larger and more magnificent building has been erected; its extended river façade, with the elegant Victoria Tower above the main building at one end and the Clock Tower at the other, is an architectural masterpiece immediately recognized worldwide as "quintessentially London".

No other view of London, even with St. Paul's Cathedral, has been so often depicted on the canvases of foreign artists. Preference was given to the design of Charles Barry.

Square on Parliament Square, Parliament House and Westminster Hall (left), Victoria Tower (right).

Clock tower, also known as Big Ben, was officially renamed Elizabeth Tower in honor of the reigning Queen of Great Britain Elizabeth II. Big Ben, by the way, is not a clock, but a large bell, named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who served as the chief commissioner for public works in those years when the bells were hung on the tower. Its special, low and rolling rumble (associated, as they say, with a crack in the metal) penetrates literally into every corner of the globe.

A narrow spiral staircase of three hundred and seventy-four steps leads up; if the bells begin to ring as they rise, the stone slabs tremble.

westminster hall- what remains of the old Palace of Westminster.

It is believed that the colossal oaks from which this majestic ceiling is made, sprouted from acorns no later than the sixth century. If this is true, then the ceiling of Westminster Hall is one of the oldest and most respected architectural details not only in England, but throughout the world.

Acorns sprouted in England, shrouded in the mist of the Dark Ages. It was the time of Celtic saints and tiny monasteries like Iona and Lindisfarne, the time of Viking gangs fighting their way to the ruins of ancient Roman settlements; this was England, in which the ringing of the bell to call to prayer and the cry of the seagull were often drowned out by the cries of the rabble in horned helmets, who sailed to rob and kill, fill the dragcars with booty and return home across the North Sea.

For centuries, the Saxons and Normans drove deer, hunted wild boars and wolves on the very spot where Westminster Hall now rises; here they made love and had feasts. Meanwhile, the oaks grew, becoming thicker in girth and casting an ever denser shadow, and the world around was changing, the Middle Ages came, and in 1397 the gamekeepers of King Richard II came here, looking for the oldest oaks in Sussex, in order to restore the roof of the royal hall in Westminster . They cut down mighty trees - the same trees that were called old already in the reign of Alfred the Great (the Anglo-Saxon king).

Parliament Square - big square in the center of Westminster, created in 1868 with the aim of streamlining traffic around the Palace of Westminster. Parliament Square has a symbolic layout and represents all branches of government. On the east side, the legislative power is represented by the Houses of Parliament (Palace of Westminster), on the northern side, Whitehall serves as the embodiment of the executive power, on the western side, the judicial power is personified by the building of the Supreme Court, and on the south, Westminster Abbey is the seat of spiritual power.

Methodist Central Hall- Westminster Central Hall or Methodist Central Hall in Parliament Square - a public building intended for holding meetings of the Methodist Church. It was built in 1912 in the French Renaissance style. The Great Hall is crowned with a huge dome; this room is considered the second largest in the world in terms of capacity; at the same time, 2352 people can be in it.

Building to the right of Westminster Abbey.

Buckingham House- the official London residence of the British monarchs - became royal palace, so to speak, reluctantly; this is a perfect illustration of the typical English reluctance to build palaces on a grand scale.

The area on which Buckingham Palace stands was occupied by mulberry plantations during the reign of James I; Yakov believed that sericulture "is able to save the people from idleness and the vices generated by it." However, this theory died with Jacob, and a roadside inn appeared on the site of the plantation, to which the gentlemen of Charles II brought their ladies and treated them to mulberry pies.
In the etchings of the time of Queen Anne we see a pretty square house of red brick in the Dutch style; two semicircular colonnades connect it with the stables and outbuildings. In front of the house there is a wide courtyard with a fountain, an iron fence and a wrought iron gate decorated with the crown and coat of arms of the Duke of Buckingham - the garter and St. George.

Looking out of the upstairs windows, the duke saw the avenue of elms and lindens that is now the Mall. In the distance rose the dome of St. Paul's, surrounded by the spiers of the churches of the City, and a little closer and to the right, beyond the meadows and the park, could be seen the bell tower of Westminster. When looking at the Mall, the duke had a view of a long canal and a duck pool, dug out by order of Charles II; today it is a lake in St. James Park.

Speaking about the new house in a letter to a friend, the duke said that under the very windows there was a piece of forest where thrushes and nightingales live. Immediately after the coronation, Victoria moved to this palace, and she also rebuilt it; The Queen's first directive was to install a grand throne at Buckingham Palace.

The crowd waiting for the rehearsal of the parade dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Now let's just walk around London. As I mentioned before, until you are near a famous landmark, you will not realize that you are in London. This is a very green city.

Although, no doubt, the spirit of a kind of aristocracy reigns here, that you still won’t be deceived :)

The whole city (as well as all other cities in Great Britain) is decorated with flags dedicated to the anniversary of the Queen's coronation.

One evening we went in search of King's Cross station, from which Harry Potter left for Hogwarts from the magical platform 9¾. There is a more remarkable building near this station st pancras station(Station of St. Pankratius).

Architecturally, the station consists of the main building - a landing stage, enclosed in the facades of the neo-Gothic building "Midland Grand Hotel" (now the Renaissance Hotel).